/HE  FUTURE  DEVELOPMENT 

•  \  l 

OF  THE 


NEW  YORK  STATE  LIBRARY. 

f 


REPORT  OF  THE  SELECT  COMMITTEE 


MADE  TO  THE  TRUSTEES  JANUARY  9,  1879 


REPORT  OF  THE  LIBRARIAN  OF  THE  GENERAL  LIBRARY. 


ALBANY : 

CHARLES  VAN  BENTHUYSEN  &  SONS. 

1879. 


THE  FUTURE  DEVELOPMENT 


OF  THE 


/VEB 


T  T  'W  w-r-!  • 

LIBRARY. 


EEPOET  OF  THE  SELECT  COMMITTEE 


MADE  TO  THE  TRUSTEES  JANUARY  9,  1S79 


ON  TIIE 


REPORT  OF  THE  LIBRARIAN  OF  THE  GENERAL  LIBRARY. 


ALBANY : 

CHARLES  VAN  BENTHUYSEN  &  SONS. 

1879. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


•  *  V 

https://archive.org/details/futuredevelopmen00newy_1 


C  "il  .  T- 


CONTENTS. 


Recital  of  Resolution  of  Trustees  of  January  11,  1878 .  4 

Report  of  the  Select  Committee  on  Librarian  Homes’s  Report,  January  9,  1879,  5 

Ordinances  of  the  Trustees,  January  10,  1879 .  12 

Report  of  the  Librarian  of  the  General  Library,  January  11,  1878 .  14 


1 


r 


RECITAL  OF  RESOLUTION  OF  TRUSTEES  OF  JANUARY  11,  1878. 


In  Board  of  Regents,  \ 
January  11,  1878.  \ 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Hale  : 

Resolved ,  That  the  report  of  the  Librarian  of  the  General  Library,  this 
day  submitted  to  the  board,  be  referred  to  a  select  committee  of  five  to 
be  appointed  by  the  Chancellor ;  that  said  committee  be  instructed  to 
consider  the  questions  suggested  by  said  report  and  such  other  questions 
as  they  may  deem  important  as  to  the  future  management,  development 
and  character  of  the  library ;  to  obtain,  as  fully  as  may  be  practicable, 
information  as  to  the  management  and  character  of  other  leading  libra¬ 
ries  of  the  country,  and  to  report  fully  to  this  board  at  an  early  day. 

The  Chancellor  appointed  as  such  committee,  Regents  Hale,  Upson, 
Brevoort,  Curtis,  Fitch. 


R  E  P  O  R  T . 


To  the  Regents  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York: 

The  special  committee,  appointed  under  the  resolution  of  which  a  copy 
is  hereto  annexed,  respectfully  report : 

That  at  several  meetings  they  have  had  under  consideration  the  sub¬ 
ject  referred  to  them;  that  they  have  consulted  the  Secretary  of  the 
Regents  and  the  librarians  of  the  general  and  law  departments  of  the 
library,  and  have  been  largely  aided  by  their  suggestions ;  that  they 
have  given  careful  consideration  to  the  matters  submitted  to  them,  so  far 
as  they  are  covered  by  the  several  heads  below  indicated,  and  they  sub¬ 
mit  the  following  views  and  recommendations  under  such  several  heads  : 

FIRST. 

The  first  and  most  important  question  discussed  in  the  report  of  the 
librarian,  which  was  the  occasion  of  the  raising  of  your  committee,  and 
which  was  made  by  your  resolution  the  foundation  of  your  committee’s 
action,  relates  to  the  future  development  and  character  of  the  library 
and  the  objects  for  which  it  is  to  be  maintained. 

The  very  full  and  satisfactory  discussion  of  this  topic  by  Mr.  Homes 
in  his  report  obviates  any  necessity  for  your  committee  to  go  at  length 
over  the  same  ground.  They  therefore  confine  themselves  to  the  expres¬ 
sion  of  the  following  opinions  and  recommendations  : 

The  scope  of  the  law  department  of  the  library  has  been  and  should 
continue  to  be  a  broad  one.  This  now  stands  among  the  very  first  libra¬ 
ries  of  the  country.  It  is  believed  to  be  nearly,  if  not  quite,  complete  in 
its  collection  of  law  reports  of  the  federal  courts  of  the  United  States,  of 
the  highest  courts  of  the  several  States  and  of  Great  Britain,  as  well  as 
of  the  statutes  of  the  several  States.  These  make  up  its  greatest  value, 
and  of  these  reports  and  statutes  its  collection  should  be  made  and  kept 
absolutely  complete. 

In  addition  to  these,  all  really  standard  elementary  works  touching 
all  departments  of  municipal  law  within  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States,  together  with  a  reasonable  supply  of  digests,  books  of  practice 
and  hand-books  of  like  character  should  be  kept  up.  Outside  of  these 
the  law  library,  to  maintain  its  proper  standing  as  a  completely  ap¬ 
pointed  law  library,  should  contain  the  leading  authorities  upon  subjects 
of  international  and  ecclesiastical  law,  the  Roman  law,  and  the  laws  of 
the  modern  continental  nations  of  Europe,  especially  of  France,  Ger¬ 
many,  Holland  and  the  free  cities.  A  law  library  is  valuable  only  as  it 


6 

is  complete  and  all-embracing  in  volumes  liable  to  be  cited  by  way  of 
authority  or  illustration. 

As  to  the  general  department  of  the  library,  the  line  of  policy  to  be 
pursued  in  its  development,  its  management,  and  its  proposed  ultimate 
object,  is  not  perhaps  capable  of  quite  so  clearly  defined  rules.  Your 
committee  submit  the  following  views  : 

To  make  this  a  universal  or  encyclopedic  library  is  simply  out  of  the 
question.  No  appropriation  which  could  be  expected  from  the  legisla¬ 
tive  authorities  would  cover  the  expense  of  an  universal  collection  of 
publications  through  the  wide  range  of  literature,  science  and  the  arts, 
including  the  enormous  mass  of  periodical  literature,  general  and  special. 
No  manning  and  equipment  of  the  library,  likely  to  be  authorized  by 
the  Legislature,  would  suffice  for  the  management  and  handling  of  such 
a  library. 

On  the  other  hand,  no  good  reason  can  be  urged  for  making  or  seek¬ 
ing  to  make  the  library  in  any  just  sense  a  special  one,  as  devoted  to 
science  in  general  or  in  any  of  its  branches  to  the  fine  arts  or  the 
useful  arts,  to  philosophy,  history  or  belles-lettres. 

The  report  of  the  librarian  fully  and  fairly  exhibits  the  purposes 
of  the  library  in  the  view  of  its  original  founders,  and  of  those  who 
have  had  it  in  charge  from  its  foundation  to  the  present  time.  These 
purposes  are  neither  universal  nor  in  a  strict  sense  special.  But 
they  indicate  a  line  of  special  or  preferred  use  as  clearly  marked  from 
first  to  last  in  the  history  of  the  library. 

First,  as  an  aid  to  officers  of  the  government,' legislative,  executive, 
administrative  and  judicial.  Special  prominence  is,  and  ought  to  be, 
given  to  the  whole  range  of  publications  included  under  the  general  head 
of  political  and  social  science.  Whatever  pertains  to  the  science  of 
government  in  its  broadest  sense  has  a  peculiar  and  special  place  in  a 
library  designed  for  the  aid  of  those  who  are  to  administer  government. 
Second,  in  a  “  State  ”  library,  whatever  illustrates  the  history,  character, 
resources  and  development  of  the  State,  past,  present  and  future,  should 
be  peculiarly  the  subject  of  collection  and  preservation. 

This  includes  a  wide  range,  for  the  history  of  the  State  involves,  to  a 
large  extent,  the  history  of  the  United  States,  and  of  our  sister  States  ; 
of  our  neighbors  upon  this  continent ;  and  of  Great  Britain,  Holland,  Ger¬ 
many  and  France,  the  Spanish  peninsula  and  Scandinavia,  who  have 
contributed,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  to  our  population,  our  manners 
and  our  laws.  In  a  sense  not  too  broad,  the  history  of  the  State  includes 
all  that  touches  its  geological  formation,  its  geography,  its  agricultural 
and  mineral  resources,  its  commerce  and  manufactures,  its  intellectual 
development  and  career,  its  religious,  moral  and  educational  systems, 
and  the  life  and  course  of  each  of  them ;  in  short,  everything  which 
illustrates  the  political  organization  which  we  call  the  State,  the  terri¬ 
tory  which  it  includes,  the  people  who  inhabit  it  and  the  products  of 


their  physical  and  intellectual  energies ;  the  whole  range  of  animal  and 
vegetable  life  ;  of  the  fruits  of  human  industry,  and  of  the  good  or  evil 
results  of  human  life  found  in  its  past  career  or  present  condition. 

These  two  general  heads,  political  and  social  science,  and  the  State 
history  in  its  broadest  sense,  including  all  that  throws  light  upon  the 
history,  condition  and  character  of  the  State  and  its  inhabitants,  seem  to 
your  committee  to  constitute  the  special  subjects  upon  which  the  library 
should  be  made  a  full  and  comprehensive  one.  In  this  connection,  your 
committee  desire  especially  to  note  their  appreciation  of  the  importance 
of  liberal  collection  and  preservation  of  the  periodical  publications  of  the 
State,  general  and  special,  including  largely  the  files  of  State  news¬ 
papers,  which  illustrate  so  fully  the  daily  life  of  the  community. 

Taking  these  as  the  subjects  to  which  the  library  is  to  be  more  espe¬ 
cially  devoted,  it  will  of  course  be  understood  that  these  special  lines  of 
collection,  comprehensive  as  they  are,  will  not  be  exclusive  of  all  others. 
English  literature  must  be  liberally  represented,  but  its  representation 
ought  ordinarily  to  be  confined  to  what  are  recognized  as  standard  or 
classic  works,  or  new  publications  of  unquestioned  merit.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  French  and  German  literature,  and  of  the  Latin  and 
Greek  classics  and  their  translations,  and  of  scientific  works  of  general 
interest.  In  short,  it  is  not  proposed  to  exclude  by  any  general  and  in¬ 
flexible  rule  anything  which,  in  the  judgment  of  the  trustees,  may  be 
desirable  to  aid  the  legislator,  the  officer  of  government,  or  the  general 
scholar,  in  the  accumulation  of  valuable  knowledge,  outside  of  the  spe¬ 
cialities  which  can  properly  be  pursued  only  with  the  aid  of  special 
collections. 

SECOND. 

Intimately  and  directly  connected  with  this  question,  as  to  the  charac¬ 
ter  of  the  library  in  respect  of  its  material  and  composition,  is  the  ques¬ 
tion  as  to  the  practical  use  of  its  several  departments. 

In  regard  to  the  law  department,  it  seems  to  your  committee  to  be 
sufficient  to- say  that  the  Legislature  has  declared  it  to  have  been  “  estab¬ 
lished  for  the  use  of  the  officers  of  the  government,  the  courts  and  the 
bar,  as  a  library  in  which  shall  be  gathered  books  to  which  such  officers 
may  be  required  to  refer,  in  the  exercise  of  their  duties.”  (Session 
Laws  of  1861,  p.  831.) 

This  declaration  is  authoritative,  and  the  direction  given  in  the  same 
statute  by  the  Legislature  to  the  trustees  to  “  limit  its  use  to  such  per¬ 
sons  and  officers,  especially  during  the  sessions  of  the  Legislature  and 
terms  of  the  courts,”  is  and  should  be  controlling. 

The  ordinary  and  habitual  use  of  the  library  room  as  a  study  hall, 
and  of  its  volumes  as  text-books  for  law  students,  is,  in  the  opinion  of 
your  committee,  inconsistent  with  the  purposes  of  the  library  and  with 
the  expressed  will  of  the  Legislature  in  relation  to  it,  and  should  be  at 
once  and  finally  prohibited. 


8 


As  to  the  general  department  of  the  library,  its  special  devotion  in  the 
first  instance,  to  the  use  of  the  Legislature  and  the  officers  of  the  State, 
has  already  been  noted.  This  use  must  of  necessity  be  without  restric¬ 
tion,  except  as  limited  by  law,  and  may  properly  be  taken  to  include 
the  recreation  of  the  legislator  or  officer,  as  well  as  the  subjects  of  his 
graver  study  and  investigation. 

Beyond  this  use,  it  seems  to  your  committee  that  anything  in  the 
nature  of  a  popular  use  of  the  library  for  general  and  indiscriminate 
reading,  is  quite  inconsistent  with  the  ends  and  purposes  of  the  library, 
as  well  as  with  its  manning  and  equipment,  thus  far  provided  by  the 
Legislature. 

Manifestly,  no  one  will  contend  that  it  can  be  used  as  a  circulating 
library.  Such  use  is  effectually  prohibited  by  the  statute.  (1  R.  S.  216, 
§§  6,  7,  8 ;  Laws  of  1845,  ch.  85,  §  1 ;  Laws  of  1848,  ch.  262,  §  3.) 

Of  course  it  can  be  used  then  as  a  library  of  popular  reading,  only  by 
a  reading-room  use.  Such  use  is  impracticable  in  the  present  library 
to  any  but  a  very  limited  extent,  for  the  want  of  room,  if  no  other  ob¬ 
jection  existed. 

This  objection  may,  of  course,  be  obviated  to  a  large  extent  in  the  new 
library,  when  completed,  if  it  be  desirable  that  such  use  of  the  library 
be  encouraged  or  permitted.  But  is  such  use  desirable  ? 

To  put  the  State  Library  to  such  use  is  substantially  to  make  it  for 
the  city  of  Albany  a  substitute  for  the  local  popular  libraries  which 
every  considerable  city  and  almost  every  considerable  village  in  this 
country  provides  for  its  own  inhabitants. 

Such  use  of  the  library  is,  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  quite  in¬ 
consistent  with  the  aim  and  plan  of  this  library  of  the  State.  This 
library  is  intended  as  a  permanent  one,  in  respect  of  the  individual  vol¬ 
umes  upon  its  shelves,  as  well  as  of  its  general  character.  Not  that  the 
volumes  are  to  be  kept  closed  and  locked,  but  that  they  are  to  be  used 
only  for  such  purposes  of  reference  and  consultation  for  specific  purposes, 
aside  from  the  general  use  specifically  named  in  the  statutes,  as  shall 
leave  them  substantially  uninjured  and  in  fit  condition  for  consultation 
after  the  lapse  of  years,  or  of  generations  even. 

A  popular  library  for  general  reading  exacts  a  use  of  books  quite 
alien  in  character  to  such  a  use  as  this.  It  ordinarily  would  require  a 
large  duplication  of  popular  books,  where  our  practice  and  our  resources 
permit  the  purchase  of  but  a  single  copy.  And  it  rapidly  reduces  the 
volumes  so  used  to  a  condition  which  renders  them  worthless  for  a  library 
of  reference. 

Again,  such  a  use  of  the  library  to  be  anything  of  general  value,  in¬ 
volves  of  necessity  a  complete  re-organization  of  the  managing  force  of 
the  library,  and  a  large  increase  of  expenditure  in  its  management. 

It  may  be  a  matter  of  some  difficulty  and  delicacy  always  to  draw  the 
line  between  the  general  and  indiscriminate  reader,  and  the  person 


9 


using  the  library  as  one  of  reference,  for  proper  and  legitimate  inquiry 
and  investigation ;  but  with  reasonable  tact  and  discretion  on  the  part 
of  the  officers  in  charge,  aided  by  the  sufficient  publication  of  a  brief 
and  comprehensive  general  rule  on  the  subject,  it  is  believed  that  the 
matter  will  not  be  found  to  involve  practical  difficulties  to  any  large 
extent. 

In  regard  to  the  management  of  the  library  in  the  purchase  of  books, 
and  the  expenditure  of  the  annual  appropriation  for  its  use,  your  com¬ 
mittee  recommend  that  the  power  of  the  librarian  of  the  general  and 
law  departments  of  the  library  respectively  be  enlarged,  so  as  to  give  to 
them  respectively  the  control,  subject  to  such  general  regulations  as  may 
be  established  by  the  trustees,  of  proportionate  shares  of  the  annual 
appropriation  by  monthly,  bi-monthly  or  quarter-yearly  instalments, 
without  specific  interference  or  control  of  the  library  committee  or  any 
of  its  members,  in  regard  to  ordinary  purchases.  That  the  librarians 
shall  respectively  report  fully  all  their  doings  in  this  regard  to  the 
library  committee,  at  stated  meetings  to  be  fixed  by  the  trustees,  and 
that  the  committee  shall  retain  its  full  supervisory  power  over  the  pur¬ 
chases  to  be  made  from  time  to  time  whenever  it  shall  see  fit  to  exercise 
them,  by  general  directions  to  the  librarians  or  otherwise.  That  the 
present  practice  of  weekly  meetings  of  the  library  committee  be  abol¬ 
ished,  and  that  in  lieu  thereof  stated  meetings  of  that  committee  be 
held  not  oftener  than  once  a  month,  or,  perhaps,  once  in  two  or  three 
months. 

Within  the  limitations  above  proposed,  and  subject  always  to  the  su¬ 
pervisory  power  of  the  trustees  acting  either  directly  or  through  the 
standing  committee  on  the  library,  your  committee  recommend  that  the 
responsible  charge  of  the  purchases  for  the  respective  departments  of 
the  library  be  vested  in  the  respective  librarians. 

The  approaching  transfer  of  the  library  to  its  rooms  in  the  New  Cap¬ 
itol,  gives  occasion  for  careful  consideration  and  action  on  the  part  of 
the  trustees.  The  proper  arrangement  of  the  space  allotted  to  the 
library,  so  as  to  effect  the  largest  amount  of  shelving  in  the  smallest  and 
most  convenient  compass,  still  providing  all  requisite  reading  room  with 
the  shelving  most  accessible  from  it,  is  a  matter  demanding  the  most 
careful  consideration  and  provision  on  the  part  of  the  responsible  man¬ 
agers  of  the  library. 

The  charge  of  the  construction  of  the  capitol  is  entrusted  by  law  to 
other  and  very  competent  hands.  Your  committee  have  no  desire  that 
the  trustees  of  the  library  should,  in  any  respect,  encroach  upon  the 
legitimate  province  of  the  Commissioners. 

But  the  subject  of  the  best  arrangement  of  the  space  allotted  to  the 
library,  in  respect  to  economy  of  space,  both  for  the  viewing  and  use  of 
the  books ;  economy  of  the  labor  of  the  officers  and  assistants  in  charge  ; 
economy  of  time  in  answering  the  calls  of  the  reader  and  student,  as 


10 


well  as  the  conveniences  and  facilities  afforded  to  the  latter,  is  evidently 
one  pertaining  especially  to  the  sphere  of  those  known  as  “  experts.” 

Your  committee  cannot  donbt  that  any  and  all  reasonable  suggestions 
in  this  regard  will  be  welcomed  by  the  Commissioners,  and  they  recom¬ 
mend  that  this  subject  be  committed  to  the  charge  of  the  committee  on 
the  library  to  act  with  the  aid  of  the  secretary  and  the  librarians. 

The  transfer  to  the  New  Capitol  will  also  give  an  excellent  occasion 
for  a  complete  and  careful  revision  of  the  entire  system  of  management 
of  the  library,  so  as  to  conform  it  to  the  practice  of  the  best  modern 
libraries.  This  will  involve  the  necessity  of  legislative  action,  the  present 
organization  being  fixed  by  the  statute.  Your  committee  have  not  at¬ 
tempted  to  shape  the  proposed  legislation  on  the  subject,  but  earnestly 
recommend  the  early  and  careful  attention  of  the  trustees  to  the  sub¬ 
ject  through  the  standing  library  committee. 

THIRD. 

On  the  subject  of  a  proposed  system  of  public,  town,  city  or  village 
libraries,,  suggested  and  discussed  in  the  librarian’s  report,  your  com¬ 
mittee  are  not  prepared  to  recommend  present  definite  action. 

The  Legislature  in  1872  (S.  L.  1872,  vol.  2,  chap.  458,  page  1065),  pro¬ 
vided  by  general  act  for  the  establishment  of  such  libraries  by  any  city, 
village  or  town  choosing  to  avail  itself  of  the  provisions  of  the  act.  Your 
committee  are  not  advised  that  any  library  has  yet  been  established  or 
attempted  under  the  provisions  of  this  statute,  and  the  statute  is,  per¬ 
haps,  in  some  respects,  deficient  in  details  for  practical  working. 

The  proper  development  of  such  a  system  required  the  most  careful 
forethought  and  deliberation,  not  only  as  to  its  details,  but  as  to  its 
general  scope  and  practicability.  The  present  financial  condition  of  the 
country  makes  the  time  an  inauspicious  one  to  propose  the  inauguration 
of  such  a  system,  and  there  may  be  grave  doubts  whether  action  to  that 
end  should  properly  originate  from  the  Regents  or  its  responsibility  be 
cast  upon  them. 

FOURTH. 

It  is  understood  that  the  State  Museum  of  Natural  History  is  in  need 
of  a  working  library  of  scientific  books  to  be  kept  at  its  rooms  so  as  to 
be  easily  accessible  for  the  scientific  work  there  prosecuted  in  its  differ¬ 
ent  departments.  Your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  no  objection  can 
exist  to  the  transfer  from  the  general  library  of  such  books  as  may  be 
there  found  of  the  special  character  required,  to  be  kept  under  the 
charge  of  an  officer  or  employee  of  the  museum,  who  shall  also  have  a 
special  appointment  as  assistant  librarian,  without  additional  expense 
to  the  library  or  its  funds,  and  so  as  still  to  keep  the  control  of  the  books 
in  the  hands  of  the  officers  of  the  library,  where,  of  course,  it  properly 
belongs.  The  details  of  executing  this  scheme,  if  adopted  by  the  Re¬ 
gents,  should  be  committed  to  the  regular  committees  on  the  library  and 
the  museum. 


11 


FINALLY. 

In  conclusion,  your  committee  again  express  their  appreciation  of  the 
valuable  report  of  Mr.  Homes  referred  to  them.  They  consider  the 
topics  which  it  discusses  of  vital  importance  to  the  library  and  its  future 
character;  and  in  view  as  well  of  the  importance  of  its  subject-matter 
as  of  the  method  of  its  discussion,  the  report  seems  to  your  committee 
worthy  of  the  attentive  consideration  of  the  trustees  and  of  the  Legis¬ 
lature  and  the  public. 

ROB.  S.  HALE, 

Chairman ,  for  the  Committee. 


ORDINANCES  ADOPTED  BY  THE  TRUSTEES,  JANUARY  10,  1879. 


1.  Ordered ,  That  so  much  of  the  report  of  the  special  committee  on 
the  librarian’s  report  as  is  embraced  under  its  first  head,  relating  to  the 
future  development  and  character  of  the  library,  and  the  objects  for 
which  it  is  to  be  maintained,  is  hereby  approved  and  adopted  as  the 
expressed  will  of  this  board. 

2.  Ordered ,  That  the  librarian  of  the  law  department  of  the  library  is 
hereby  instructed  to  enforce  the  provisions  of  the  concurrent  resolution 
of  the  Senate  and  Assembly  of  16th  April,  1861,  declaring  it  to  be  the 
duty  of  the  trustees  of  the  library  to  secure  its  uninterrupted  use  to  the 
purposes  named  in  said  resolution,  and  to  limit,  its  use  substantially  to 
the  persons  and  officers  by  said  resolution  designated.  And  that  to  that 
end  the  occupation  of  the  room  of  that  department  as  a  study  and  read¬ 
ing-room,  and  the  use  of  its  volumes  as  text-books  by  law  students,  is 
prohibited. 

3.  Ordered ,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  the  trustees  that  the  general  depart¬ 
ment  of  the  library  is  not  intended  as  a  popular  library  for  indiscrimi¬ 
nate  and  continuous  reading.  That  the  same  is  primarily  designed  for 
the  use  of  the  Legislature  and  officers  of  the  State,  and  for  reference  by 
historical  and  professional  students  and  those  interested  in  special  lines 
of  inquiry.  And  to  carry  out  in  part  the  purposes  of  the  library,  as  above 
expressed,  the  librarian  of  the  general  library  is  instructed  not  to  deliver 
to  visitors,  for  general  and  continuous  reading  in  the  library,  works  of 
fiction,  light  literature,  travels,  literary  periodicals  and  publications  of 
like  character. 

4.  Ordered ,  That  the  standing  committee  on  the  library  is  instructed 
to  make  such  arrangements  as  shall  give  to  the  librarians  of  the  general 
and  law  departments,  respectively,  the  control  of  such  shares  or  portions 
of  the  annual  appropriations  for  the  purchase  of  books  as  may  from  time 
to  time  seem  proper,  with  reference  to  the  amount  of  such  appropriations 
in  each  year,  to  enable  said  librarians  to  make  the  ordinary  purchases 
for  their  respective  departments  during  such  specific  periods  as  may  be 
fixed  by  the  committee.  That  said  librarians  respectively  report  in 
detail,  to  the  committee  on  the  library,  at  each  regular  meeting,  their 
purchases  since  the  last  previous  report,  and  that  the  supervisory  power 
of  said  committee,  and  of  this  board,  be  fully  retained.  That  from  and 
after  the  first  day  of  February  next,  the  regular  meetings  of  the  library 
committee  be  on  the  first  Tuesdays  of  March,  May,  July,  September, 
November  and  January,  and  that  the  special  meetings  may  be  called  by 
the  chancellor  in  his  discretion. 


5.  Ordered ,  That  the  subject  of  the  provision  to  be  made  for  the  library 
in  the  new  capitol,  named  in  the  report  of  the  special  committee  on  the 
librarian’s  report,  be  referred  to  the  standing  committee  on  the  library 
with  power,  and  that  the  secretary  of  the  Regents  and  the  librarians  of 
the  general  and  law  departments  of  the  library  be  joined  with  said 
committee. 

6.  Ordered ,  That  the  subject  of  the  transfer  of  certain  scientific  books 
to  the  Museum  of  Natural  History,  mentioned  in  the  report  of  the  special 
committee  on  the  librarian’s  report,  be  referred  to  the  standing  commit¬ 
tees  on  the  library  and  on  the  Museum  of  Natural  History,  to  act  jointly, 
with  power. 


THE  FUTURE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  STATE  LIBRARY— 
A  REPORT  MADE  TO  THE  TRUSTEES  BY  THE  LIBRARIAN 
OF  THE  GENERAL  LIBRARY,  JANUARY  11,  1878. 


To  the  Honorable,  the  Trustees  of  the  State  Library,  Regents  of  the  University 

of  the  State  of  New  York  : 

Frequently  during  the  twenty-three  years  in  which  I  have  been  con¬ 
nected  with  the  State  Library,  I  have  had  occasion  to  lay  before  the 
library  committee  of  the  trustees  observations  on  subjects  connected  with 
its  administration.  Some  of  these  observations  have  referred  to  such 
topics  as  the  arrangement  and  the  security  of  the  books,  and  the  inter¬ 
pretation  to  be  given  to  the  rules.  Any  suggestions  of  modifications  of 
or  additions  to  the  existing  rules  would  naturally  encounter  reasonable 
objections  to  their  adoption,  and  consequently  they  have  remained  essen¬ 
tially  unchanged  since  1856.  The  librarians  have,  however,  received 
verbal  instructions  from  time  to  time,  in  special  cases,  for  their  discreet 
guidance. 

Within  three  years,  two  new  regulations  having  been  proposed  to  the 
committee,  regarding  the  restrictions  to  be  placed  upon  the  delivery  of 
valuable  books  to  total  strangers,  who  brought  no  card  or  letter  of  intro¬ 
duction,  the  opinion  was  expressed  by  the  committee  that  the  librarians 
would  naturally  be  expected  to  act  upon  the  principles  implied  in  the 
proposed  rules,  and  that  there  was  no  need  of  embodying  them  in  writ¬ 
ing.  At  a  later  date,  when  the  topic  of  new  rides  was  under  considera¬ 
tion,  it  was  concluded  that,  as  within  a  few  years  the  library  would  be 
removed  to  the  new  capitol,  a  thorough  revision  of  all  the  rules  would  be 
necessary,  and  that  the  subject  might  be  deferred;  and  I  was  requested 
to  prepare,  for  submission  to  the  trustees,  such  a  revision  as  should  cover 
the  whole  ground.  And  in  1876  the  trustees  informed  the  Legislature 
that  they  were  engaged  in  preparing  such  a  revision. 

As  the  various  regulations  adapted  to  the  new  conditions  in  which  the 
library  would  be  placed  presented  themselves,  it  became  plain  that  their 
character  must  depend  upon  the  nature  of  the  views  which  should  be 
taken  by  the  trustees  of  the  future  development  and  aim  of  the  library ; 
upon  the  principles  upon  which  it  was  to  be  enlarged  and  books  to  be 
selected  for  its  shelves,  and  the  special  classes  of  readers  to  be  anticipated. 

Sixty  years  have  now  elapsed  since  the  State,  in  1818,  enacted  the  law 
for  the  organization  of  the  State  Library,  and  more  than  thirty  years 
since  the  University  Board  of  Regents  have  been  its  trustees.  In  the 


15 


prospect  of  the  transfer  of  the  library  to  the  new  capitol,  with  more  than 
ten  times  as  many  books  upon  its  shelves  as  were  contained  in  it  when  it 
was  delivered  into  their  care,  it  seems  proper  that  a  review  should  be 
taken  of  some  aspects  of  its  past  history,  and  of  the  principles  upon 
which  it  has  been  built  up,  combined  with  a  statement  of  its  present 
character  and  uses.  The  changed  condition  of  things  in  the  country  as 
regards  libraries,  both  since  the  State  created  it  in  1818,  and,  also,  since 
the  trustees  accepted  the  management  of  it  in  1845,  is  a  still  more 
prominent  and  important  element  in  the  discussion.  The  completion  of 
the  first  sixty  years  of  the  library,  synchronizing  so  nearly  with  its 
removal  to  the  new  capitol,  suggested  that  it  might  be  the  peculiarly 
appropriate  time  to  make  a  studious  inquiry  of  the  question  of  the  proper 
development  and  uses  of  the  library,  in  the  light  of  these  changes,  in 
the  hope  that  the  facts  collected  would  offer  a  basis  for  correct  judgment 
as  to  the  regulations  desirable  to  be  made. 

Increase  of  Libraries  in  the  United  States. 

The  changes  in  the  country,  to  which  I  have  referred  as  having  a  bear¬ 
ing  on  the  question,  are  the  extraordinary  multiplication  of  the  produc¬ 
tions  of  the  press,  and  especially  the  extraordinary  increase  of  its 
libraries  within  the  last  thirty  years  all  over  the  country.  The  ratio  of 
increase,  both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe,  has  had  no  parallel  at  any 
period  of  human  history.  It  is  supposed  that  20,000  volumes  issue 
every  year  from  the  presses  of  Great  Britain,  France  and  Germany, 
without  counting  the  United  States.  On  this  estimate,  25,000  and  even 
30,000  new  works  would  be  a  moderate  allowance  for  the  annual  produc¬ 
tion  of  the  world  in  all  languages.  Mr.  Laborde’s  estimate,  made  two 
years  since,  was  of  35,000  works  for  the  world  in  each  year.  It  was  an 
unprecedented  event  when  the  British  Museum  tripled  its  contents  in 
one-third  of  a  century,  from  1822  to  1857.*  Thirty-four  free  town 
libraries  were  established  in  large  cities  of  England  from  1852  to  1865. f 
The  ratio  of  increase  of  town  libraries  in  France  has  been  65  per  cent 
in  the  short  space  of  three  years  previous  to  1876,  1,500  popular  libraries 
having  been  founded  within  that  period,  besides  1,700  school  libraries. 
There  were  in  1877,  3,946  of  these  free  town  libraries. 

There  may  be  room  for  doubt  which  have  increased  in  the  largest 
proportion,  the  productions  of  the  press,  or  the  libraries  in  which  to 
preserve  them. 

The  increase  of  libraries  is  still  more  astonishing  in  the  United  States. 

In  the  year  1800,  there  were  but  49  libraries,  containing  an  aggregate 
of  only  80,000  volumes.  Of  these  49  libraries,  12  were  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  being  chieffy  county  law  libraries  or  academy  libraries  of  a 
few  hundred  volumes  each.  In  the  year  1818,  the  libraries  of  this  State 


*  Edwards,  Memoirs  of  Libraries,  ii,  695. 
t  Edwards,  Town  Libraries,  p.  -17. 


1G 


were,  as  far  as  reported,  only  27,  and  were  mostly  very  small.  {  From 
these  small  beginnings  we  come  to  the  contrast  of  the  present  year,  when 
the  whole  number  of  libraries  has  reached  3,682.  Of  these,  2,240  have 
been  organized  since  the  year  1850 ;  and  all  the  libraries  contain 
13,000,000  volumes,  not  counting  those  in  common  or  Sunday  schools. 
In  several  of  our  cities,  close  upon  a  million  of  books  may  be  found  in 
the  various  libraries  of  each.  Of  the  whole  number,  627  public  libraries, 
of  more  than  300  volumes  each,  are  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  they 
contain  in  all  more  than  2,000,000  of  volumes,  of  which  1,000,000  may 
be  found  in  the  city  of  New  York  alone.  That  city  in  1818  did  not 
possess  probably  in  its  various  public  libraries  more  than  12,000  volumes. 
In  Albany,  the  Institute  had  190  volumes,  and  Albany  City  Library 
perhaps  2,000  volumes. 

The  city  of  Philadelphia  has  about  1,000,000  volumes  in  its  public 
libraries,  and  the  city  of  Boston,  including  Harvard  College,  has  a  simi¬ 
lar  number;  while  Washington  contains  libraries  more  valuable  probably 
than  the  million  of  books  found  in  either  of  these  cities,  though  amount¬ 
ing  only  to  650,000  volumes.  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  St.  Louis  and  San 
Francisco  are  also  rapidly  concentrating  large  libraries.  Two  hundred 
and  sixty-six  of  these  libraries  (containing  more  than  half  of  this 
13,000,000  of  volumes)  have  more  than  10,000  volumes  each,  with  an 
average  of  26,000  volumes  each. 

Five-sixths  of  all  the  donations  to  the  pnblic  by  individual  gifts  for 
libraries,  including  the  value  of  the  real  estate  for  them,  and  amount¬ 
ing  probably  to  more  than  30,000,000  of  dollars  in  value,  have  been 
given  within  the  last  30  years.  The  city  of  Chicago  has  received  the 
gift  of  property  this  year  from  a  single  estate,  that  of  the  late  W.  L. 
Newberry,  whose  present  value  is  5,000,000  of  dollars,  mainly  for  the 
interests  of  its  free  public  library.  The  purpose  of  the  trustees  is  to 
make  it  at  the  same  time  the  most  complete  reference  library  in  the 
country. 

These  facts  constitute  the  remarkable  contrast  between  the  present 
condition  of  the  country  in  respect  to  its  libraries  and  its  condition  in 
1818,  or  even  its  condition  in  1845.  They  demonstrate  that  libraries 
have  assumed  a  position  of  importance  in  the  estimation  of  the  public 
which  they  did  not  then  possess.  They  make  it  seem  a  reasonable 
necessity  that  at  the  end  of  three  decades  of  years,  an  examination 
should  be  made  to  see  what  bearing  these  facts  and  others  related  to 
them  may  have,  not  only  upon  the  country  and  State  generally,  but  upon 
this  State  Library  in  particular  ;  that,  if  possible,  it  may  be  discovered 
whether  they  suggest  anything  that  should  affect  the  principles  to  be 

JSome  of  the  following  facts  are  compiled  from  that  remarkable  encyclopedia  of  information 
regarding  the  libraries  of  the  country,  the  volume  entitled,  Public  Libraries  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  tlieir  history,  condition  and  management.  Special  Report.  Department  of  the  interior, 
Bureau  of  education.  Washington,  1876  :  pp.  1187,  8vo.  In  a  paper  in  that  volume  ou  the  his- 
t  >ry  and  character  of  the  State  libraries  of  the  country,  I  have  several  times  alluded  to  the  New 
York  State  Library,  and  occasionally  in  this  report  I  repeat  observations  contained  in  that  paper. 


IT 


applied  to  its  development,  or  lead  to  any  modification  of  past  plans 
and  measures  ;  whether  in  this  remarkable  and  encouraging  aspect  of 
the  country,  as  regards  its  libraries,  there  is  any  occasion  for  the  trus¬ 
tees  to  deliberate  anew  on  the  relations  of  the  State  Library  to  the  wants 
of  the  people,  the  government  and  the  State. 

Topics  of  Inquiry. 

The  time  may  have  come  to  define  its  aims  more  emphatically  than 
was  reasonable  or  possible  in  the  past,  when  libraries  of  every  kind  were 
extremely  few.  Rapidly  growing  libraries  are  now  to  be  found  at  all 
important  centres  in  the  United  States,  and  particularly  in  a  large  num¬ 
ber  of  the  cities  and  towns  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Several  cities 
have  more  volumes  in  their  libraries  than  are  to  be  found  in  our  own 
State  Library,  though  it  is  two  and  a  half  times  larger  than  any  other 
state  library.  A  clear  specification  of  the  object  and  aims  of  the  library 
would  also  possess  a  practical  value  as  information  to  the  Legislature 
and  the  public  generally.  Upon  the  character  of. the  conclusions  arrived 
at  would  depend  in  a  large  measure  the  amount  necessary  for  the  expen¬ 
diture  of  each  year,  as  will  appear  in  the  sequel  of  this  report. 

Some  of  the  topics  of  inquiry,  which  the  new  condition  of  things 
regarding  libraries  brings  up  to  our  minds  as  appropriate  for  investiga¬ 
tion  at  the  present  time,  are  the  following :  In  the  expenditure  of  the 
annual  grants  of  the  Legislature,  what  are  the  principles  which  should 
control  in  the  selection  of  books  for  its  shelves  ?  What  exceptions  or 
limitations  of  classes  of  books  shall  be  made  ?  Shall  it  be  enlarged 
more  than  hitherto  in  the  direction  of  the  sciences  ?  Shall  its  list  of 
periodicals  extend  to  several  hundreds,  as  in  the  Cooper  Institute,  Phila¬ 
delphia  and  Boston  libraries  ?  Shall  more  books  be  bought  in  foreign 
languages,  the  Greek  and  the  Latin,  the  French  and  the  German,  and 
others  ?  Shall  the  library  confine  itself  to  a  few  topics,  like  American 
history,  and  books  pertinent  to  the  legislator,  and  other  special  subjects  ? 
or,  shall  it  be  universal  and  encyclopedic  in  its  aims,  welcoming  all 
knowledge,  literature  and  science,  everything,  large  and  small,  old  and 
new,  that  may  be  obtainable  in  print  ?  The  decision  that  may  be  made 
upon  these  questions  would  afford  a  satisfactory  basis  for  preparing  rules 
and  regulations,  harmonizing  with  the  decision. 

Development  of  this  Library  in  the  Past. 

Much  aid  can  be  given  towards  reaching  a  decision  upon  these  ques¬ 
tions,  by  a  review  of  the  manner  in  which  the  library  has  been  regarded 
in  the  past  by  the  legislature  and  the  trustees. 

Within  the  same  five  years  in  which  this  library  was  founded,  and  at 
a  time  when  the  whole  number  of  States  was  but  22,  five  State  libraries 
were  created.  It  is  evident  that  impressions,  derived  from  observing 
the  destitution  of  the  whole  country,  were  operating  upon  the  minds  oi 
2 


18 


the  legislators  of  that  day,  and  leading  them  to  endeavor  to  stimulate 
the  intellectual  activity  of  the  people  by  means  of  libraries.  The  pur¬ 
pose  of  this  library  was  no  further  defined  in  the  act  of  1818  than  to 
say  it  was  “  to  establish  a  public  library  for  the  use  of  the  government 
and  of  the  people  of  the  State.”  The  first  purchase  of  600  volumes, 
made  by  DeWitt  Clinton,  as  chairman  of  the. committee,  embraced  books 
of  every  class,  in  law  especially,  and  in  history,  literature  and  science  ; 
and  the  same  classes  of  books  have  continued  to  be  purchased,  under 
both  of  the  boards  of  trustees  to  the  present  time,  so  that  the  library 
corresponds  fairly  to  its  name  of  a  general  library.  In  1835,  the  trus¬ 
tees,  Messrs.  Bronson,  Dix,  and  Flagg,  report,  that  the  library  contained 
5,000  volumes,  the  majority  of  which  were  law  books,  and  they  add  that 
outside  of  law  they  “  have  for  the  most  part  selected  standard  works  on 
American  history,  politics  and  legislation,  with  such  foreign  publications 
of  general  interest  as  are  not  usually  found  in  our  society  and  individual 
libraries.”  In  1840  they  speak  of  the  meagre  appropriation  for  books 
“of  a  scientific  character,  and  particularly  such  as  relate  to  statistics, 
and  to  which  members  of  the  legislature  and  the  executive  and  admin¬ 
istrative  officers  of  the  State  must  have  recourse  for  the  information 
indispensable  to  the  discharge  of  their  duties.”  Five  years  after,  in 
1845,  the  Regents  of  the  University,  who  had  become  its  trustees,  in 
their  first  report,  say  of  the  library  :  “  The  additions  made  to  it  consist 
for  the  major  part  of  works  relating  to  our  own  State  and  country.  The 
trustees  were  desirous  to  show  as  early  as  possible  that  they  esteem  this 
a  paramount  object,  and  to  accumulate  as  far  as  was  in  their  power  every 
work  of  interest  or  value  relating  to  the  United  States.”  And  farther 
on  in  the  same  report  they  say :  This  portion  of  the  library  is  particu¬ 
larly  defective  in  treatises  on  education,  political  economy  and  practical 
science.  These  subjects,  with  that  of  American  history,  will  be  attended 
to  so  far  as  the  limited  means  that  are  appropriated  will  permit.”  Their 
first  year  of  service  was  inaugurated  by  the  receipt  of  the  Warden  col¬ 
lection  of  2,000  volumes,  purchased  by  the  State  for  $4,000,  which  was 
composed  of  works  entirely  on  American  history.  In  1848,  the  trustees 
emphasize  their  earnest  attention  to  increase  the  works  relating  to  our 
own  country,  and  state  that  the  cost  of  the  works  by  American  authors 
and  on  America  are  more  than  enough  to  absorb  all  the  funds  appropri¬ 
ated.  In  1849,  the  trustees  state  that  the  library  is  “  taking  high  rank 
among  such  as  are  rich  in  works  relating  to  our  own  country . Par¬ 
ticular  attention  has  been  bestowed  in  collecting . all  such  as  are 

written  by  our  fellow-countrymen . they  have  directed  their  unre¬ 

mitting  attention  to  this  subject,”  In  other  years,  as  1859,  1865  and 
1867,  they  repeat  the  same  sentiment;  in  1876  speaking  with  satisfac¬ 
tion  of  the  additions  in  the  branch  of  American  genealogies.  During 
these  30  years  they  also,  from  time  to  time,  refer  with  pleasure  to  the 
additions,  not  only  in  law,  but  in  “  literature,  science  and  art,”  as  in 


19 


1846,  1847,  1851,  1857,  1870;  and  in  1859  they  referred  to  the  securing 
of  books  “beyond  the  means  of  ordinary  students.”  The  subject  of 
works  on  statistics  is  referred  to  both  by  the  earlier  and  later  trustees  as 
one  on  which  they  desire  to  secure  books.  It  follows  from  this  review 
of  the  reports,  that  while  the  library  has  been  steadily  enlarged  with 
works  in  literature,  science  and  art,  its  only  special  objects  have  been 
law,  legislative  topics  and  American  history,  and  with  this  accords  the 
last  official  utterance  on  the  subject,  that  of  Governor  Robinson,  who,  in 
his  message  this  year,  singles  out  two  branches  of  knowledge  regarding 
which  to  call  the  attention  of  the  legislature  as  prominent  in  the  library. 
He  says  :  “  In  the  departments  of  law  and  American  history  it  is  unsur¬ 
passed  by  any  other  State  library  of  the  Union.” 

Use  as  a  Reference  Library. 

These  extracts  exhibit  the  views  of  the  trustees  from  the  foundation  of 
the  library  as  to  the  character  of  the  books  to  be  collected.  As  to  the 
manner  of  their  use,  it  has  been  essentially  and  mainly  a  library  for 
reference,  and  not  for  loaning  and  circulation  outside  of  the  capitol.  In 

its  first  organization,  the  regulations  state  that  “no  book . shall  be  at 

any  time  taken  out  of  the  library  on  any  pretense  whatever,”  either  by 
members  of  the  legislature,  the  heads  of  the  departments  of  government, 
the  judges  of  the  highest  courts,  or  finally  by  the  trustees.  Afterwards 
by  successive  enactments  the  privilege  of  drawing  books  was  extended 
to  each  one  of  these  bodies.  In  1845,  the  trustees  suggested  to  the  legisla¬ 
ture  that  it  would  perhaps  be  desirable  that  the  privilege  should  also  be 
given  to  persons  engaged  in  historical  and  scientific  investigations,  but 
no  further  action  was  taken  on  the  subject.  In  1867  and  in  1872,  the 
trustees  specifically  speak  of  the  library  as  a  “  reference  library  ”  in  their 
reports.  All  the  rules  for  the  use  of  the  library  down  to  1855  seem  to 
relate  to  the  members  of  the  legislature  and  official  persons,  and  little  is 
said  about  its  use  by  the  general  public,  and  no  provision  is  made  for 
its  use  by  youth.  Section  4  of  rules  of  the  trustees  does  not  define  who 
have  the  use  of  the  library,  but  merely  describes  the  process  for  all  per¬ 
sons  to  obtain  their  books  by  means  of  written  cards.  For  twelve  or 
fifteen  years  till  1834  it  was  only  kept  open  during  the  sessions  of  the 
legislature  and  the  courts.  The  general  library  was  in  the  same  room 
with  the  law  library.  The  trustees,  Messrs.  G.  C.  Bronson,  J.  A.  Dix 
and  A.  C.  Flagg,  in  that  last-mentioned  year  recommend  that  the  library 
should  be  entirely  closed  except  during  the  sessions  of  the  legislature 
and  of  the  courts.  And  as  late  as  the  year  1860,  the  joint  library  com¬ 
mittee  of  the  legislature,  in  the  formal  report  to  that  body  signed  by  the 
eight  members,  recommend  that  “the  library  during  the  sessions  of  the 
legislature  should  be  regarded  chiefly  as  an  appendage  to  the  senate  and 
assembly  rooms,  and  the  admission  should  be  conflued  to  the  state  officers 


20 


and  members  of  the  legislature,  and  persons  introduced  by  them.”*  And 
this  committee  requested  the  trustees  to  frame  rules  in  accordance  with 
this  conclusion. 

The  nature  of  the  use  of  the  library  as  a  reference  library  is  repeatedly 
described  by  the  trustees  in  their  reports  as  legal,  legislative,  historical 
and  scientific.  In  the  process  of  enlarging  it  as  a  reference  library,  it 
has  become  one  of  the  most  complete  in  the  country  in  the  department 
of  American  history.  Its  relative  completeness  in  one  branch  may  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  of  the  261  works  referred  to  by  Durrie  in  his 
Index  to  American  genealogies ,  contained  in  town  histories ,  this  library 
possesses  258  of  them.  As  a  pendant  to  American  history  the  library  is 
abundantly  supplied  with  works  on  the  history  of  Great  Britain,  includ¬ 
ing  Ireland,  Scotland  and  Wales,  and  with  standard  English  literature. 
The  history  of  Europe,  and  of  the  Netherlands  especially,  has  not  been 
neglected.  There  are  several  thousands  of  volumes  in  the  library  in 
Greek,  Latin,  French,  German  and  other  languages.  While  steadily 
enlarging  it  as  one  of  historical  reference,  the  trustees  have  uniformly 
made  prudent  purchases  of  books  in  most  of  the  branches  of  general 
.X;  knowledge  suitable  for  a  reference  library,  as  far  as  the  funds  at  their 
disposal  would  admit.  The  qualifications  to  this  statement  are  that 
works  on  law  are  bought  solely  for  the  law  library ;  in  medicine,  sets  of 
standard  periodicals  only  are  procured  and  not  professional  treatises ;  in 
theology,  the  limit  is  its  history.  Agriculture  is  left  for  the  collections 
of  the  State  Agricultural  Society.  The  Dudley  Observatory  has  its  own 
library  of  800  volumes  on  astronomy,  and  the  State  Museum  a  growing 
collection  on  natural  history  ;  Union  University  has  a  valuable  classical 
and  mathematical  library.  And  besides,  in  the  libraries  of  Albany, 
Schenectady  and  Troy  combined  there  are  in  all  125,000  volumes. 

Demand  for  Books. 

Although  the  library  contains  some  books  of  great  value  in  many  of 
the  sciences  in  literature  and  the  arts,  yet,  with  the  exception  of  American 
history,  the  books  which  we  possess  in  any  one  branch  of  study  are 
relatively  so  few  that  the  attraction  they  offer  to  the  specialist  is  not 
strong  enough  to  draw  him  from  abroad  to  make  his  researches  here,  if 
he  can  make  it  convenient  to  go  to  the  large  and  continually  increasing 
general  and  special  collections  in  the  other  cities  to  which  we  have  before 
referred.  The  demand  is  so  slight  for  general  history  or  scientific  works 
that  there  is  nothing  to  guide  in  the  preparation  of  lists  of  books  for  the 
consideration  of  the  library  committee  beyond  general  principles  and 
intrinsic  values.  Those  who  by  law  have  the  right  to  draw  books  from 
the  library  are  those,  the  pressure  of  whose  avocations  leaves  them  very 
little  time  to  read  and  study  in  the  library. 


*NeAv  York  Senate  documents,  No.  67,  1860. 


21 


It  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to  state  that  there  is,  however,  a  steady  in¬ 
crease  in  the  use  of  the  library  in  that  department  to  which  the  trustees 
have  given  special  attention,  the  department  of  American  history,  includ¬ 
ing  genealogies.  The  genealogical  branch  is  of  great  importance  in  all 
biographical  researches,  and  works  of  that  character  can  only  be  found 
collectively  in  public  libraries,  and  many  avail  themselves  of  our  com¬ 
paratively  very  large  collection.  The  number  of  applications  to  consult 
the  3,000  volumes  of  American,  British  and  French  patents  in  the  library 
amounts  to  at  least  400  in  a  year. 

Increased  Duties  of  the  Librarians. 

The  views  of  the  trustees,  that  this  library  is  one  for  historical  and 
scientific  research  chiefly,  are  further  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  general 
library  for  the  last  twenty  years  has  been  left  to  the  care  of  a  single 
librarian  and  an  assistant,  without  any  messenger.  The  duties  annually 
discharged  by  them  have  involved  perpetual  study  for  the  preparation 
of  lists  of  books  to  purchase  for  the  approval  of  the  library  committee, 
the  cataloguing  on  cards  in  detail  the  titles  of  all  the  books  purchased, 
preparing  simultaneously  the  cards  of  a  subject-index  for  these  books, 
the  superintending  all  the  details  of  binding  and  lettering,  the  rewriting 
the  lists  of  books  for  the  annual  reports  of  the  library,  the  assorting1,  bind¬ 
ing  and  cataloguing  50,000  pamphlets  in  more  than  2,000  volumes,  and 
the  preparation  and  the  carrying  through  the  press  more  than  3,000  pages, 
(additional  to  the  annual  reports),  of  catalogues  of  the  books,  manuscripts, 
maps  and  coins,  including  a  subject-index  of  the  general  library.  Many 
manuscripts  and  maps  have  been  received,  assorted  and  bound,  and 
catalogued  in  separate  MS.  catalogues.  Besides  all  this,  the  books  have 
been  kept  in  order  on  the  shelves,  attention  has  been  paid  to  visitors, 
books  have  been  delivered  to  readers  and  borrowers  daily,  combined  with 
a  large  correspondence  with  inquirers  for  information.  The  librarians, 
like  the  clerks  of  a  public  office,  are  addressed  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
States  and  called  upon  by  visitors,  for  information  on  a  multitude  of 
topics.  A  great  proportion  of  readers  of  all  classes,  whether  the  learned, 
or  the  young  occupied  with  their  themes  for  essays,  expect  and  are 
grateful  for  whatever  portion  of  his  time  a  librarian  can  give  to  facilitate 
them  in  their  researches. 

The  regular  work  in  the  library  has  also  greatly  increased  within  the 
last  few  years.  A  considerable  part  of  the  increase  is  due  to  the  services 
to  be  performed  in  connection  with  the  3,000  volumes  of  patents,  of 
which  formerly  we  had  none,  and  the  additional  labor  resulting  from 
the  crowded  state  of  the  shelves,  upon  which  the  books  have  to  be  placed 
in  double  rows.  But  one  of  the  chief  causes  is  the  increase  of  the  popu¬ 
lation  of  the  capital.  Albany  has  more  than  doubled  in  population — 
having  90,000  inhabitants — since  the  Regents  became  the  trustees  of  the 
library,  and  the  number  of  pupils  in  its  public  and  private  schools,  male 


and  female  academies,  high  school,  normal  school,  law  and  medical 
schools,  have  increased  in  larger  proportion. 

Influence  of  the  Creation  of  Popular  Free  Libraries. 

No  single  cause  has  so  much  tended  to  give  importance  to  this  growth 
of  the  city,  and  to  occasion  an  increased  use  of  the  State  Library,  as  the 
establishment  of  free  town  libraries  for  popular  use,  and  the  influence 
of  their  existence  upon  the  usages  of  the  schools  and  the  citizens. 

While  the  State  has  been  creating  and  enlarging  a  reference  library 
for  the  legislator,  the  scientist  and  the  advanced  student,  the  progress 
of  the  age  has  brought  forward  a  new  phenomenon  of  the  century — the 
popular  free  library,  for  cities  and  towns  of  whatever  size.  The  system 
of  establishing  them  was  inaugurated  by  special  acts  in  England  and 
Massachusetts,  about  the  same  time,  in  the  year  1851,  and  originated  in 
part  from  the  failure  of  society  or  subscription  libraries,  and  school 
district  libraries  to  secure  valuable  results. 

The  modern  free  library  is  an  institution  through  which  the  education 
of  the  people  is  kept  up  while  they  are  in  the  public  schools,  and  is  con¬ 
tinued  after  they  have  left  them,  and  it  is  well  called  the  people’s  uni¬ 
versity.  It  is  principally  a  loaning  library  of  popular  works,  and 
includes  both  a  reference  library  and  reading-room  for  periodicals,  if 
the  funds  at  disposal  will  permit.  In  many  of  these  libraries  the  aver¬ 
age  amount  of  works  of  fiction  perused  by  the  readers  has  been  75  per 
cent.  The  statement  conveys  a  wrong  impression,  unless  the  other  fact 
is  also  brought  out,  that  a  large  number  of  the  readers  are  under  18 
years  of  age,  and  that  these  fictions  are  very  frequently  juvenile  books 
of  the  most  elevating  kind.  The  zeal  and  wisdom  of  librarians  is  pro¬ 
gressively  successful  in  introducing  a  better  class  of  reading.  In  the 
National  Library  of  Paris,  novels  were  largely  introduced  into  the 
people’s  reading-room  to  make  it  attractive  when  first  opened;  but 
since  that  has  been  a  success,  many  of  the  novels  have  been  gradually 
withdrawn.* 

Under  the  influence  of  the  stimulus  of  this  creation  of  the  century, 
the  youth  of  the  schools,  and  of  the  city  generally,  frequent  the  library 
at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  They  come,  under  impulses  received  from 
their  teachers,  to  read  upon  the  topics  of  the  essays  assigned  to  them  for 
exhibitions,  and  to  study  the  questions  to  be  debated  in  their  literary 
societies.  The  services  of  the  librarians  are  constantly  requested  to  find 
a  book  on  “  perseverance,”  on  “  character,”  or  the  like  ;  or  to  collect  from 
the  shelves  the  numerous  volumes  of  reviews  (as  they  have  been  learned 
by  the  reader  from  Poole’s  Index  to  Periodicals),  which  contain  articles 
on  free  trade,  or  capital  punishment,  etc.  During  the  winter  months  a 
large  portion  of  the  librarians’  time  is  consumed  in  collecting  and  deliv¬ 
ering  novels,  Harper’s  Monthly,  and  recreative  reading  to  young  men 


*  France  :  Min.  de  l’instruction  publique  :  Rapports  sur  la  bibliotli^que  nationale,  1876. 


and  women,  when  there  is  no  work  to  be  had  in  some  of  the  trades,  and 
the  library  is  warm  and  comfortable. 

Object  of  the  Library. 

Noticing  the  prominent  and  overshadowing  use  of  the  library  for 
trivial  ends,  and  recalling  the  facts  which  we  have  mentioned  in  the 
history  of  the  library,  the  question  comes  up  and  demands  an  answer,  is 
this  the  use  for  which  the  library  was  especially  designed  ?  If  the 
answer  to  this  question  is  not  sufficiently  obvious,  there  are  various 
additional  illustrations  to  confirm  the  view  that  it  was  not  designed  as 
an  educational  and  recreative  institution,  at  the  expense  of  the  State, 
for  the  young  and  uneducated.  In  the  first  place,  the  character  of  the 
books  upon  our  shelves  presents  several  marked  features  in  contrast  with 
those  which  are  found  upon  the  shelves  of  a  public  town  library.  We 
usually  only  purchase  one  copy  of  a  work,  for  consultation  ;  the  popular 
library  may  purchase  scores  of  copies  of  the  same  work.  We  purchase 
our  books  for  perpetual  preservation ;  the  popular  library  purchases  them 
with  the  expectation  that  multitudes  of  them  will  be  worn  out  by  use. 
The  report  of  the  Boston  Public  Library  of  1877  gives  the  number  of 
2,800  volumes  as  condemned  during  the  preceding  twelve  months,  as 
“  worn  out  by  legitimate  use.”  Our  books  are  chiefly  for  occasional 
reference,  or  the  perusal  of  students  who  are  specialists ;  the  popular 
library  serves  for  continuous  and  promiscuous  reading  for  intellectual 
improvement  or  recreation.  If  we  have  juvenile  books,  they  are  for  some 
relation  to  literary  history;  in  the  popular  library,  all  the  juvenile 
*  fictions  are  collected  to  be  used  and  worn  out.  If  we  have  educational 
text- books,  grammars,  geographies  and  readers,  they  are  for  the  com¬ 
parisons  of  teachers  and  the  historian,  and  not  for  the  use  of  pupils.  In 
the  popular  libraries,  even,  they  are  informed  that  such  books  are  not  to 
be  used  as  text-books.  If  we  have  Indian  captivities,  adventures  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  like,  they  are  not  for  the  purpose  of  startling 
sensations,  but  for  the  students  of  the  earliest  things  in  our  country’s 
history. 

We  have  a  moderate  number  of  works  of  fiction.  Many  of  them  are 
gifts.  The  purchases  of  novels  have  been  made  either  for  the  occasional 
relaxation  of  the  representative  servants  of  the  State,  or  because  they 
illustrate  the  literary  history  of  the  country.  For  this  purpose  we  ought 
to  have  first  editions  of  Paulding,  Irving,  Cooper  and  others,  not  for 
ordinary  reading,  but  for  consultation. 

And  so  with  all  copies  of  first  editions  of  books,  by  American  authors, 
books  constantly  becoming  rare.  They  should  not  be  delivered  out  for 
daily  reading,  either  in  or  out  of  the  library,  to  run  the  risk  of  being 
speedily  worn  out.  They  ought  not  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  mere  desire 
of  a  reader  for  a  novel  or  other  book  for  amusement.  If  the  book  of  a 
certain  author  must  necessarily  be  given  out  to  every  reader,  simply 


24 


because  it  is  on  the  shelves,  then  we  should  provide,  if  possible,  several 
modern  copies  of  these  books,  or  cease  to  purchase  books  which  are  too 
rare  for  popular  use. 

It  is  not  our  multitude  of  rare  and  valuable  books  which  are  exposed 
to  so  much  use  as  to  be  worn  out.  The  occasional  use  for  research  would 
not  produce  the  result.  The  difficulty  arises  chiefly  in  respect  to  the 
very  books  which  are  not  rare  and  costly.  They  are  books,  however, 
which  for  various  reasons  after  the  lapse  of  a  few  years  become  so  ;  and 
it  is  for  this  class  that  the  demand  is  sure  to  be  so  great  that  they  will 
be  worn  out,  and  must  be  condemned,  if  no  restriction  be  placed  upon 
their  use ;  for  they  will  not  be  on  hand,  or  cannot  be  purchased  for  use, 
when  wanted,  and  much  trouble,  time  and  money  will  be  expended 
before  copies  can  be  found  to  supply  their  place.  The  following  are  a 
few  of  these  books,  naturally  very  attractive  by  their  titles  or  subjects 
to  the  young,  in  reference  to  which,  if  the  library  is  not  to  be  treated  as 
a  town  popular  library,  the  constant  and  promiscuous  use  of  such  is  the 
question  which  this  report  brings  before  the  trustees  for  their  decision  : 
Algerine  Captive  ;  Artemus  Ward  ;  Barnum’s  Humbugs ;  Drake’s  Book 
of  the  Indians;  Flint’s  Indian  Wars;  Gleason’s  Pictorial;  Harper’s 
Monthly;  Hall’s  Tales  of  the  Border;  Hall’s  Legends  of  the  West; 
Paulding’s  Works,  first  editions;  Anne  Roy  all’s  Travels;  Simms’  Life 
of  Marion ;  Trenck’s  Life.  The  object  has  been  not  to  include  in  this 
list  any  books  which,  on  moral  considerations,  would  probably  be  objec¬ 
tionable  in  the  mind  of  any  person  to  their  being  delivered  to  all 
readers. 

While  the  character  and  aim  of  the  popular  library  justify  the  delivery 
to  all  readers  of  books  of  this  character,  yet  it  was  not  the  purpose  for 
which  the  trustees  of  this  library  put  them  on  the  shelves,  that  they 
should  serve  for  a  pastime  to  young  or  old,  or  even  to  educate  their 
minds  by  creating  a  taste  for  good  reading,  or  to  gratify  a  taste  already 
formed ;  but  rather  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  consulting  library  for 
the  advanced  student  in  history. 

The  Combined  Popular  and  Reference  Library. 

If  it  should  be  the  conclusion  of  the  trustees  and  of  the  legislative 
authorities  that  the  library,  while  managed  as  a  reference  library,  is  at 
the  same  time  to  be  managed  as  a  popular  library,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  have  it  conformed  to  the  aims  of  one.  If  it  is  to  be  virtually  an  edu¬ 
cational  institution,  a  people’s  college,  it  should  be  administered  in  a 
manner  commensurate  with  the  object,  and  to  bring  credit  and  honor  to 
the  State ;  in  a  manner  not  to  be  surpassed  by  the  best  conducted 
popular  library  of  any  city.  The  decision  would  make  it  necessary  to 
change  the  character  of  the  purchases  of  books  to  those  of  current  litera¬ 
ture,  including  a  large  proportion  of  fiction  and  juveniles,  and  not  only 
to  duplicate  our  choice  editions  by  common  editions,  but  in  the  case  of 


fictions  to  have  many  duplicates  of  each.  It  would  make  it  necessary 
to  provide  a  large  staff  of  assistants,  which  will  be  indispensable  if  the 
library  is  to  be  as  useful  as  possible  for  the  purposes  assigned  to  it. 

If  it  is  determined  that  it  is  to  be  in  the  future  a  popular  library 
without  distinction  of  readers,  the  conclusion,  if  consistently  carried  out, 
will  more  than  triple  the  expenses  of  the  library  for  assistants,  and  for 
the  purchase  of  the  books  appropriate  for  use  in  a  popular  library. 

Of  the  $124,000  spent  the  last  year  by  the  Public  Library  of  Boston, 
only  $24,000  were  spent  for  books,  and  the  remainder,  $100,000,  were 
spent  for  ordinary  expenses  and  the  salaries  of  130  persons  employed  in 
the  library  and  its  branches.  Of  these  employes,  eight  are  in  the  execu¬ 
tive  department,  and  18  in  the  cataloguing  department.  From  the 
statistics  of  58  libraries  in  this  country,  having  more  than  10,000  vol¬ 
umes  each,  it  appears  that  they  spent  in  1875  $278,000  for  the  purchase 
of  books,  and  $457,000  for  salaries.  The  City  Library  of  Cincinnati  in 
1875,  with  an  income  of  $41,000,  spent  $22,000  for  books  and  $18,000 
for  salaries;  while  the  Public  Library  of  Chicago,  in  1876,  from  an 
income  of  $27,500,  spent  $4,000  for  books,  $3,800  for  binding  and 
$11,000  for  salaries. 

The  additional  expense  incurred  in  conducting  a  library  as  a  free 
popular  library  inures  chiefly  to  the  advantage  of  the  city  where  the 
library  is  situated.  But  many  of  the  cities  and  towns  of  this  State,  by 
arrangements  of  diverse  character,  are  providing  themselves  with  such 
libraries.  In  the  cities,  towns  and  villages,  not  counting  New  York  city 
or  the  school  district  libraries,  there  are  already  more  than  a  million  of 
books  collected  in  their  libraries.  In  coming  years,  with  what  amount 
will  the  representatives  of  the  people,  representatives  coming  from  these 
very  towns,  be  ready  to  subsidize  this  library  from  funds  obtained  by 
State  taxation,  that  it  may  be  conducted  as  a  free  popular  library  for  the 
advantage  of  a  single  city  and  its  vicinity  ?  State  libraries  exist  pri¬ 
marily  for  ends  beneficial  to  the  whole  State.  They  are  not  designed 
to  provide  the  current  literature  for  the  citizens  of  a  single  city.  It 
would  be  an  undesirable  result  if,  by  facilities  of  this  kind,  the  inhabit¬ 
ants  of  a  capital  should  be  made  more  backward  than  they  otherwise 
would  be  in  establishing  libraries  for  themselves,  or  if  they  should  be 
drawn  away  from  sustaining,  by  their  contributions,  existing  social  and 
subscription  libraries.  At  the  time  when  this  library  was  first  estab¬ 
lished,  the  Albany  Library,  founded  in  1792  as  a  society  subscription 
library,  had  4,000  volumes,  and  the  use  of  it  for  consultation  was  free  to 
all,  but  in  1835  it  was,  while  having,  as  reported,  9,000  volumes,  deposited 
in  a  room  of  the  Albany  Female  Academy,  and  the  company  practically 
ceased  to  exist. 

If  it  is  determined  that  it  is  not  a  popular  library,  the  regulations 
regarding  its  use  should  correspond  to  the  nature  of  the  uses  aimed  at. 


26 


While  it  harmonizes  with  the  plan  of  a  reference  library  that  it  may 
have  a  comparatively  limited  staff  of  assistants,  it  does  not  harmonize 
with  it  that,  in  addition  to  the  classes  of  work  performed  as  already 
described,  a  single  librarian  and  an  assistant  should  have  the  duty  of 
delivering  books  as  for  the  readers  of  a  popular  library.  At  present, 
while  the  librarians  have  their  regular  duties,  and  are  amply  employed 
in  aiding  those  who  wish  to  use  the  library  for  its  legitimate  purposes, 
they  are  at  the  same  time,  in  accordance  with  its  prevailing  usages, 
giving  out  books  to  any  that  ask,  without  identification,  registration  or 
introduction,  amounting  frequently  to  from  50  to  70  readers  in  a  day. 
No  person  is  occupied  in  maintaining  a  surveillance  of  the  hall.  There 
is  some  restriction  upon  the  class  of  books  that  may  be  delivered,  owing 
to  the  confidence  repeatedly  shown  by  the  legislature  that  the  librarians 
would  not  abuse  their  discretionary  power  of  refusing  in  certain  defined 
cases.  During  from  four  to  six  months  the  crowd  at  the  tables  in  the 
winter,  during  the  whole  of  the  last  20  years,  has  been  so  great  both  in 
the  general  and  the  law  libraries,  that  members  of  the  legislature  have 
frequently  complained  that  they  could  find  no  place  to  sit  down. 

The  catalogues  and  indexes  which  they  are  required  to  prepare  and 
print  cannot  be  issued  with  that  detail,  care  and  completeness  that  the 
age  demands  of  an  institution  so  large  and  so  prominent  as  the  New 
York  State  Library,  if  the  librarians,  fully  occupied  with  the  duties  of 
a  growing  library,  and  attentive  to  the  wants  of  consulting  students 
and  others  using  the  library  legitimately,  are  to  have  the  larger  part  of 
their  time  occupied  with  the  cares  and  uses  of  a  popular  library. 

Universal  and  Encyclopedic  Libraries. 

The  question  recurs  again,  if  the  library  is  not  to  be  a  popular  library, 
on  what  principle  shall  it  be  developed  ?  Shall  it  be  enlarged  as  an 
encyclopedic  and  universal  library,  or  as  one  of  special  aims  ?  Or,  shall 
it  be  enlarged  without  any  special  purpose,  other  than  to  accept  or  pur¬ 
chase,  in  addition  to  works  of  American  history,  anything  that  offers 
itself  that  seems  intrinsically  valuable,  or  likely  to  have  a  value  for  some 
person  in  the  future  ?  Shall  it  be  as  comprehensive  in  its  scope  as  the 
national  libraries  of  London,  Paris,  Berlin,  Munich  and  St.  Petersburgh  ? 
They  are  enlarged  upon  the  principle  of  preserving  everything  which 
has  been  printed  which  is  attainable  for  money  or  by  gift,  and  of  which 
they  have  not  a  copy ;  and  the  same  is  true  for  all  manuscripts.  The 
British  Museum  spends  $100,000  a  year  on  books  alone.  It  is  well  to 
recall  that  for  the  one  or  two  libraries  in  each  kingdom  of  this  all-em¬ 
bracing  character,  we  already  have  one  in  our  country  of  corresponding 
scope  in  the  National  Library  at  Washington,  which,  with  350,000  vol¬ 
umes  already  collected,  is  asking  Congress  for  a  separate  edifice  that 
shall  ultimately  be  capable  of  receiving  2,000,000  volumes,  to  be  larger 
than  the  largest  library  of  Europe.  Are  there  strong  reasons  why  our 


State  Library  should  imitate  these  examples  ?  And,  if  such  a  library 
is  to  be  aimed  at  by  New  York,  is  it  also  to  be  the  aim  of  the  40  State 
libraries,  to  make  their  collections  large  in  the  same  encyclopedic  way, 
so  far  as  the  funds  at  their  disposal  will  admit  P 

In  partial  answer  to  the  question,  it  is  clear  that  it  was  certainly  most 
excellent  wisdom  on  the  part  of  New  York  and  other  States  to  found 
State  libraries.  It  gave  to  all  their  towns  the  stimulus  of  a  good  exam¬ 
ple.  Especially  was  it  a  wise  policy  in  the  early  settlement  and  organi¬ 
zation  of  the  Territories,  that  with  the  aid  of  Congress  they  should  go 
on  building  up  both  general  and  law  libraries,  for  their  capitals  were  the 
only  towns  where  libraries  could  possibly  be  formed.  But  after  that  the 
centres  of  aggregation  of  population  in  a  State  have  become  clearly 
defined,  the  most  natural  place  for  building  up  encyclopedic  libraries 
will  be  those  cities  where  men  most  do  congregate.  Our  State  capitals 
are  rarely  such  places  ;  only  four  of  them  are  in  towns  containing  more 
than  50,000  inhabitants  ;  most  of  the  States  contain  cities  far  surpassing 
their  capitals  in  population.  The  cities  of  Baltimore,  Chicago,  Cin¬ 
cinnati,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco  already 
contain  four  or  five  times  as  many  volumes  in  their  libraries  as  may  be 
found  in  their  capitals.  In  New  York  city,  the  Astor  Library  alone  has 
an  endowment  at  the  present  time  of  §410,000  for  its  annual  expenditure 
for  books  and  salaries.  Boston  is  a  capital,  and  by  usage  and  law  its 
State  library  is  limited  and  special.  It  aims  at  collecting  “  the  best 
legal,  political,  historical,  statistical,  economic  and  scientific  works  which 
tend  to  illustrate  the  history,  exhibit  the  resources,  direct  the  labor  and 
capital,  and  perfect  the  legislation  of  the  State  and  country.”*  Our 
own  capital  is  not  an  imperial  one,  though  the  capital  of  an  empire 
State.  It  is  not  a  great  centre  of  population  ;  but  as  its  State  Library 
is  ip  a  city  which  has  no  large  general  library  (though  it  has  13  libraries 
containing  in  all  over  60,000  volumes),  it  might  be  alleged  that  it  should 
therefore  be  sustained  as  an  encyclopedic  library  and  in  the  spirit  of  a 
national  library.  This  is  indeed  the  very  question  we  are  discussing, 
and  much  may  be  urged  in  favor  of  it.  But  it  certainly  deserves  to 
be  considered,  whether  with  our  great  National  Library  at  Washington, 
and  eight  other  prominent  centres  where  large  libraries  are  already  col¬ 
lected,  which  will  be  steadily  enlarged,  it  is  the  most  useful  plan  to 
collect  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  at  the  capital,  books  and  pamphlets 
in  every  branch  of  knowledge,  and  all  printed  matter  that  can  be 
obtained.  For  many  years  at  least  its  deficiencies  would  be  melancholy 
to  contemplate  and  the  supply  be  to  little  purpose,  for  men  of  research 
will  only  go  to  those  very  cities  mentioned  where  they  can  find  the  largest 
collections.  The  history  of  the  use  of  the  library  for  the  last  20  years 
proves  this,  as  has  been  before  observed. 

*Mass.  Library  Catalogue,  1858. 

t  United  States  Libraries  Report,  187(5,  p.  684. 


28 


We  frequently  hear  the  remark  made  that  the  legislature  ought 
annually  to  appropriate  some  very  large  sum  for  the  increase  of  the 
library.  There  are  contingencies  which  would  make  a  large  annual 
appropriation  both  desirable  and  necessary ;  such  as,  if  it  were  deter¬ 
mined  to  administer  it  as  a  popular  library,  or  if  a  State  university  were 
to  be  established  at  the  capital.  With  any  clear,  definite  and  important 
objects,  the  State  might  be  eager  to  make  large  annual  appropriations. 
But  when  the  consequences  entailed  by  a  large  increase  of  books  are 
brought  to  mind,  the  fact  that  with  its  increase  comes  demands  for  pro¬ 
portionate  increase  in  expenses  for  buildings  and  for  the  keeping  of  the 

books,  there  may  well  be  hesitation  unless  the  motives  are  strong.  The 

> 

immense  reach  of  an  encyclopedic  library  is  shown  by  this  fact ;  the 
library  of  Congress  has  twice  doubled  in  thirteen  years,  and  it  contains 
publications  of  2,000  different  learned  societies,  not  counting  its  scientific 
periodicals.! 

It  would  seem  unavoidably  necessary  that  the  trustees  should  declare, 
either  that  the  library  is  to  be  all-embracing  and  encyclopedic,  or  that 
besides  books  on  American  history,  those  in  two,  four  or  more  branches 
of  knowledge  shall  be  especially  collected.  The  hundreds  of  sciences 
and  arts,  the  immense  realm  of  universal  history  and  the  literature  of  all 
nations  are  a  tantalizing  field  to  glean  in.  At  present,  without  definite 
aims,  one  is  compelled  to  go  over  the  multitudes  of  catalogues  of  books 
for  sale,  having  no  limiting  principal  of  selection.  If  it  should  be  decided 
that  the  library  is  not  encyclopedic,  but  one  of  certain  definite  aims,  it 
would  be  comparatively  easy  to  choose  books  within  the  categories  which 
should  be  designated. 

A  Library  op  Law,  Legislation  and  American  History. 

If  it  should  be  decided  that  the  library  is  one  of  special  aims,,  the 
question  comes  up  to  what  classes  of  books  should  attention  be  especially 
directed  in  making  purchases  ?  In  accordance  with  the  invariable  action 
of  the  trustees,  the  first  class  to  be  mentioned  would  be  law,  then  American 
history,  followed  by  political  economy,  including  all  topics  of  legislation, 
and  also  the  latest  encyclopedias  and  statistics.  Of  the  law  department 
there  is  no  occasion  for  any  remark.  But  it  is  worth  observing  that  the 
field  of  American  history  is  not  merely  of  the  United  States,  or  of  North 
America,  but  the  whole  new  world ;  not  merely  its  history  popularly  so 
called,  its  civil  and  political  history,  but  also  whatever  illustrates  the 
whole  continent  of  North  and  South  America,  in  its  geography,  its 
geology,  zoology,  botany,  ethnology  and  philology.  It  may  embrace  its 
literature,  poetry  and  fiction,  the  productions  of  all  its  authors  in  all 
languages,  its  school  books,  controversies,  periodicals  and  newspapers. 
There  is  no  library  that  is  attempting  anything  on  so  thorough  and  com¬ 
prehensive  a  scheme  as  that  is.  Our  library  in  this  department  is  already 
so  strong  that  it  would  be  comparatively  easy  to  increase  its  relative 


29 


strength,  unless  in  unique  printed  volumes  and  manuscripts.  The  limita¬ 
tion  of  purchases  to  the  topics  mentioned  should  result,  with  the  progress 
already  made,  in  obtaining  a  collection  more  remarkable,  valuable  and 
useful  than  any  existing  in  this  country  in  these  branches. 

It  would  be  one  result  of  this  principle  of  special  aims  that  more  time 
would  be  found  to  give  prominence  to  collections  relative  to  the  history 
of  New  York  State,  in  its  most  comprehensive  meaning,  general  and  local, 
than  is  possible  under  the  present  system ;  while  no  topic  is  more  interest¬ 
ing  or  important  to  the  people  of  the  State.  We  interpret  the  phrase 
New  York  history  with  the  same  latitude  of  meaning  as  that  of  American 
history.  It  would  embrace  collections  from  the  presses  of  every  county 
in  the  State,  the  proceedings  of  towns  and  counties,  their  newspapers, 
society  reports  and  directories ;  and  would  become  so  complete  as  to 
compel  every  person  with  a  query  on  a  New  York  fact  to  come  to  its 
State  Library  to  pursue  his  search.  Collections  of  the  manuscripts  o 
past  public  officers  of  the  State  and  of  other  States  give  eminent  distinc¬ 
tion.  A  library  is  held  in  more  repute  and  esteem  by  the  public  when 
known  to  possess  unique  manuscripts  or  complete  collections  on  special 
topics,  than  by  holding  possession  of  numbered  thousands  of  unknown 
volumes. 

Are  not  the  history  of  the  new  world  and  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
conjoined  with  a  library  especially  adapted  to  the  legislature  and  the 
courts,  sufficiently  comprehensive  subjects  with  which  to  till  a  large 
library  P  In  the  department  of  American  history  including  the  new 
works  constantly  issuing  from  the  press,  on  the  thorough  and  compre¬ 
hensive  scheme  of  collecting  which  we  have  described,  there  are  enough 
books  to  absorb  with  those  on  political  economy  and  statistics  all  the 
appropriations  likely  to  be  obtained  from  the  State.  The  rate  of 
increase  would  fill  the  library  hall  of  the  new  capitol  in  a  much  shorter 
time  than  one  would  suppose.  Our  present  library,  with  its  moderate 
annual  appropriation,  is  twice  full  at  the  end  of  23  years  from  its  first 
occupation,  the  books  standing  in  double  rows  on  the  shelves,  and  piled 
on  the  floors  of  the  gallery  and  in  the  cellar.  An  annual  appropriation 
slightly  enlarged  would  procure  for  the  general  and  law  libraries,  under 
the  limitation  of  a  library  of  special  reference,  enough  books  to  make  it 
practically  more  useful  than  by  general  purchases  on  every  subject. 

“  No  one  library,  however,  large  or  comprehensive,  has  either  the  space 
or  the  means  to  accumulate  a  tithe  of  the  periodicals  that  swarm  from  a 
productive  press.”*  Seven  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty-seven 
periodical  publications  appeared  in  the  United  States  in  the  year  1876. 
In  the  State  of  New  York  alone  there  are  periodically  published  every 
year  880  newspapers  and  magazines.  Of  these  47  are  in  German  and 
16  in  other  foreign  languages.  Each  of  the  leading  New  York  dailies 
i  lakes  two  stout  and  thick  volumes  a  year. 


*  United  States  Library  Report,  1876.  Dr.  Spoll'ord’s  paper,  p.  681. 


30 


Mr.  Sabin  is  publishing  in  New  York  a  dictionary  of  books  on  America 
and  of  those  by  American  authors.  The  work  as  far  as  printed  reaches 
only  to  the  word  Hun,  and  already  makes  eight  volumes  of  575  pages 
each,  showing  that  the  whole  list  will  make  25  such  volumes,  a 
larger  catalogue  than  any  now  existing.  A  few  such  facts  illustrate  the 
extent  potentially  of  a  library  peculiarly  American.  They  prove  what 
a  vast  held  lies  before  us  in  collecting  merely  valuable  and  historical 
productions  of  the  American  and  New  York  press. 

Libraries  with  Special  Aims. 

In  terminating  what  I  had  to  say  on  the  future  increase  of  the  library, 
I  would  add  that  no  one  of  these  plans,  either  the  special,  encyclopedic, 
or  the  popular  library,  is  suggested  as  under  all  circumstances  best  or 
most  desirable  ;  but  I  have  mentioned  some  of  the  characteristics  of  each, 
convinced  that  the  time  has  arrived  when  it  is  important  to  obtain  in¬ 
structions  from  your  honorable  board  as  to  the  future  course  to  be  pur¬ 
sued.  It  is  from  no  want  of  sympathy  with  the  popular  library,  far 
otherwise,  but  for  the  purpose  of  laying  before  the  trustees  the  actual 
use  of  the  library,  and  the  advantages  and  difficulties  of  different  modes 
of  administering  it. 

The  process  of  specializing  our  libraries  to  increase  their  utility  is  a 
necessary  result  of  human  progress,  and  of  the  differentiation  of  the 
objects  of  human  knowledge  and  thought,  from  a  few  studies  and  sciences 
to  a  multitude.  The  plan  of  developing  every  library  that  is  not  ency¬ 
clopedic  by  making  it  strong  in  some  specialties  is  greatly  recommended 
by  experts.  Mr.  Edwards  lays  it  down  as  a  general  principle  :  “  It  will 
be  well  to  fix  upon  some  main  subjects  of  a  general  kind  in  which  the 
library  shall  be  especially  well  provided.”!  He  observes  that:  “For 
some  time  past  it  has  been  contended  that  each  of  the  libraries  of  Paris 
should  have  a  specific  character,  and  be  administered  with  a  view  to  the 
special  requirements  of  a  particular  class  of  readers.”!  At  the  London 
conference  of  librarians,  October,  1877,  Mr.  Harrison,  of  the  London 
Library,  laid  down  as  one  of  three  necessities  of  a  library  that  it  should 
have  “special  or  local  appropriateness,”  giving  as  an  instance  of  the 
contrary  where  a  provincial  library  spent  £100  for  150  folio  volumes  of 
the  London  Gazette.  In  the  pursuit  of  this  idea  the  library  of  the  United 
States  Surgeon  General's  department  has  reached  an  astonishing  perfec¬ 
tion.  The  13,000  volumes  in  the  library  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural 
History  suggest  again  how  much  can  be  done  in  special  departments. 
Our  State  Library  in  the  first  stages  of  its  existence  might  well  receive 
everything;  as  the  wants  of  society  become  more  complex,  and  many 
centres  have  arisen  well  supplied  with  books,  can  it  not  make  itself  more 
useful  by  selecting  its  specialties,  and  allow  others  more  favorably 
situated  to  be  more  comprehensive  in  their  aims  ? 

I  Memoirs  of  Librtries  I,  574. 

+  To\vn  Libraries,  p.  217. 


31 


A  General  Law  for  Public  Town  Libraries. 

Before  proceeding  farther,  I  hope  I  may  be  indulged  with  an  observa¬ 
tion  having  a  close  affinity  with  the  subject  of  the  report.  The  formation 
of  encyclopedic  and  reference  libraries  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  free 
popular  libraries  throughout  the  country  on  the  other,  is  of  the  greatest 
importance,  and  especially  the  formation  of  the  latter  in  all  cities  and 
towns  is  one  of  the  most  promising  and  fruitful  ideas  of  this  century. 
No  more  honorable  lot  can  befall  any  man  than  an  opportunity  to  aid  in 
creating,  endowing,  sustaining  or  guiding  one.  The  thought  is  this, 
that  if  the  course  which  the  trustees  may  adopt  should  seem  to  limit  the 
use  of  the  State  Library,  there  is  another  measure  which,  if  it  should  be 
submitted  by  them  as  the  University  of  the  State  to  the  legislature, 
would  doubtless  meet  with  its  approbation,  a  measure  which  would  ulti¬ 
mately  secure  advantages  to  millions  in  the  State,  while  the  freest  use 
of  the  State  Library  would  be  an  accommodation  only  to  thousands. 
The  proposed  measure  is  the  passage  of  a  general  law  authorizing  the 
towns  of  the  State  to  establish  free  public  libraries  by  local  tax.  The 
passage  of  such  a  law,  at  the  suggestion  of  your  honorable  board,  would 
prove  that  if  it  were  not  possible  for  them  to  make  the  State  Library 
available  as  a  popular  library,  that  above  all  they  did  not  undervalue 
the  popular  library  in  its  proper  sphere. 

Such  a  law  has  already  been  passed  within  the  last  25  years  in  Great 
Britain  and  in  11  of  the  States  of  this  Union,  the  last  two  of  which 
are  Illinois  and  Texas.  In  Massachusetts,  of  the  346  cities  and  towns 
in  the  State,  127  towns  have  provided  themselves  with  free  libraries 
since  the  first  passage  of  the  law  allowing  it  to  be  done  by  local  taxa¬ 
tion.  In  1872  a  law  was  enacted  by  the  State  of  New  York  allowing 
towns  to  establish  public  libraries  by  a  tax  of  $1  upon  every  legal  voter, 
and  50  cents  a  year  for  maintenance.  The  law,  so  far  as  I  am  informed, 
lias  been  inoperative.  In  the  Librarians’  Conference  in  New  York,  Sep¬ 
tember,  1877,  measures  were  adopted  for  drafting  a  form  for  a  general 
law  for  town  libraries  adapted  to  all  the  States,  in  which  should  be 
embodied  the  results  of  the  experience  of  the  States  where  town  libraries 
are  sustained  by  a  local  tax.  The  zeal  of  the  friends  of  free  libraries 
is  exhibited  in  their  exertions  that  this  means  of  elevating  the  com¬ 
munity  shall  be  turned  to  the  best  account.  A  proof  of  this  is  shown  in 
the  simultaneous  suggestions  from  different  writers,  that  to  make  libraries 
of  the  highest  possible  utility  there  should  be  in  the  schools  and  colleges 
professorships  of  books  and  reading,  to  guide  to  the  best  and  most 
useful  books,  and  the  best  methods  of  reading.  Three  papers  from 
different  authors,  in  the  United  States  Libraries’  Report,  propose  such  a 
course  ;  but  perhaps  the  earliest  formal  essay  in  behalf  of  the  measure 
was  read  by  Prof.  Robinson,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  before  the  New  York 
University  Convocation  of  1876.  The  scheme  has  already  received 


32 


practical  application  at  Harvard  University  by  its  appointment  of  tlie 
late  librarian  of  the  Boston  Public  Library  as  both  librarian  and  professor 
of  reading. 

New  York,  which  took  the  lead  in  the  popular  library  system,  by  being 
the  first  to  organize  district  school  libraries,  in  1835,  will  not  long  remain 
behind  any  of  the  other  States  in  such  a  progressive  movement.  It  is 
indeed  true  that  owing  to  the  smallness  of  the  sum  to  be  received  from 
the  State,  where  §50,000  is  annually  to  be  distributed  to  12,000  district 
schools,  the  system  has  not  been  a  success,  and  is  gradually  breaking 
down.  The  district  school  libraries  are  being  converted  into  union  school 
libraries,  and  in  accordance  with  the  recommendation  of  the  Superintend¬ 
ent  of  Instruction,  free  town  libraries  will  doubtless  gradually  take 
their  place.  But  if,  from  her  experiments  with  district  libraries,  results 
so  favorable  to  town  libraries  have  followed,  there  is  more  ground  for 
encouragment  than  discouragement  as  respects  general  progress. 

The  representations  of  the  Board  of  Regents  to  the  legislature  in  behalf 
of  such  a  town  free  library  law  would  receive  the  enthusiastic  support  of 
the  people  of  most  of  the  towns  of  the  State,  and  the  law,  when  in  opera¬ 
tion,  would  tend  to  give  an  additional  attraction  to  home  life  on  every 
hill  and  in  every  valley  of  the  State. 

New  Regulations;  Preliminary  Remarks. 

Having  now  reached  the  topic  which  was  the  original  occasion  of  the 
remarks  on  the  preceding  pages,  the  character  of  the  regulations  to  be 
proposed,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  whatever  principles  may  be  adopted 
by  the  trustees  regarding  the  future  increase  of  the  library  and  its  use, 
the  necessity  for  the  regulation  of  this  use  by  the  general  public  by  new 
rules  will  still  exist.  The  regulations  hitherto  in  force,  chiefly  concern¬ 
ing  the  representatives  of  the  people,  show  by  their  minuteness  and 
detail  that  the  legislature  and  trustees  have  always  aimed  to  protect 
the  library  from  injury  and  loss.  The  occasion  for  rules  not  hitherto 
introduced  arises  from  the  increased  number  using  the  library  as  a  popu¬ 
lar  library,  from  the  extent  to  which  it  will  always  be  used  by  strangers, 
and  its  greater  publicity  and  use  by  visitors  when  transferred  to  the 
new  Capitol.  After  the  transfer  of  the  library  to  the  present  edifice, 
the  crowd  of  readers  during  several  successive  winters  made  so  much 
disturbance  that  it  was  necessary  to  employ  a  policeman  daily  to  pre¬ 
serve  order.  It  is  desirable  to  anticipate  any  such  possible  consequences. 

Economy  of  administration,  the  highest  usefulness  of  the  library,  and 
the  security  of  the  books  from  damage  or  loss  will  always  require  occa¬ 
sional  re-adjustments  of  regulations.  In  proportion  as  care  is  evidently 
taken,  the  State  will  be  disposed  to  make  the  necessary  appropriations, 
and  citizens  of  the  State  be  ready  to  endow  the  library  with  their  treas¬ 
ures  as  gifts. 


It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  our  library  having  been  collected  principally 
with  the  aims  of  a  reference  library,  and  yet  naturally  embracing  at  the 
same  time  many  books  of  a  popular  character,  does  not  possess  the 
advantages  of  a  library  which  (as  in  the  case  of  the  National  Library  of 
Paris  and  of  the  Boston  Public  Library)  is  divided  into  two  or  three 
halls,  one  for  popular  readers  and  one  for  reference.  The  books  in  the 
former  are  all  suitable  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  all  persons,  while 
multitudes  of  the  books  in  the  latter  may  be  very  unsuitable  for  pro¬ 
miscuous  readers.  In  our  catalogues  no  marks  are  given  of  the  books 
allowed  for  general  reading  or  the  contrary.  It  is  not  easy  to  allow  of 
indiscriminate  use  by  young  and  old,  as  persons  frequently  (often  very 
unconsciously)  ask  for  books  the  most  unsuitable  to  be  given  to  them, 
though  they  were  on  the  shelves  for  motives  appropriate  to  learned 
research. 

Rules  in  Other  Libraries. 

As  preliminary  to  an  examination  of  the  question  of  the  amount  of 
freedom  of  use  that  can  be  allowed  in  a  State  library,  it  will  be  a  help 
to  have  before  us  the  usages  of  some  of  the  largest  libraries  of  the  world. 
The  facilities  for  reading  in  the  British  Museum  are  generally  com¬ 
mended,  yet  any  person  desiring  to  read  there  must  apply  in  writing 
to  the  principal  librarian,  “  specifying  his  description  and  place  of 
abode,”  and  accompany  the  letter  with  a  written  recommendation  from 
some  other  person,  “  whose  position  in  society,  reputation  or  public 
appointment  may  serve  as  a  guaranty  for  the  respectability  of  the  appli¬ 
cant.  Thereupon  he  receives  a  ticket  giving  him  the  privilege  for  six 
months.”  Under  such  restrictions  the  reading-room  is  visited  by  over 
100,000  readers  in  a  year.* 

Admission  for  reading  in  the  London  Institution,  an  endowed  library, 
is  obtained  by  a  reading  ticket,  which  is  to  be  had  of  any  of  the 
900  members.  Those  who  know  no  members  on  the  list  have  only 
to  furnish  the  librarian  with  a  “  recommendation  from  some  professional 
man,  merchant,  employer  of  labor  or  other  responsible  person,  and  tickets 
will  be  procured  them.”  “  The  library  is  being  reorganized  to  give 
facilities  for  its  use  to  the  great  outside  body  of  readers.”! 

The  scheme  adopted  in  the  National  Library  in  Paris  during  the  last 
eight  years  has  been  the  provision  of  two  reading-rooms  on  the  same 
premises.  One  is  a  popular  reading-room  for  which  a  special  selection 
of  about  25,000  volumes  is  provided,  for  artisans  and  the  working  classes. 
It  has  a  separate  entrance  on  another  street,  and  any  person  can  read 
there  who  is  over  16  years  of  age.  It  received  51,000  readers  in  1875. 
The  novels,  which  formed  a  large  part  of  the  collection  at  first,  have 
been  gradually  diminished  as  the  room  had  finally  become  sufficiently 


3 


♦Sim’s  Handbook,  1854. 
t  Library  Journal,  i,  339. 


34 


popular.  The  other  reading-room  of  the  great  library  cannot  be  used 
except  by  those  who  have  received  tickets  of  admission  or  certificates  of 
some  kind  from  the  principal  of  a  special  school,  or  known  citizens,  by 
which  they  become  “  authorized  workers.”  The  number  of  registered 
readers  here  in  1875  was  51,504.  This  plan  was  the  result  of  the  labors 
of  a  commission  especially  appointed  by  the  government  for  the  purpose, 
of  which  M.  Merimee  was  chairman.  * 

In  Berlin,  admission  is  free  to  all  grown  persons.  Books  are  lent  as 
of  right  to  enumerated  classes,  and  to  other  persons  duly  guaranteed 
either  by  certain  public  functionaries  or  other  persons.  “  Ignorant 
persons  frequently  ask  for  books  which  promise  no  useful  result,  and  thus 
take  up  the  time  and  energy  of  the  official  attendants.”  | 

In  Dresden,  all  functionaries  of  the  State  have  a  right  to  admission, 
and  also  strangers  presenting  a  written  guaranty  from  such  persons. 

In  a  large  number  of  the  libraries  on  the  continent,  as  in  Lisbon, 
Rome,  Naples,  etc.,  admission  is  reported  as  free,  though  their  statistics 
show  that  popular  use  of  the  library  had  never  entered  into  the  customs 
of  those  cities. 

In  the  Boston  Public  Library,  all  persons  who,  under  the  law,  have  the 
right  to  carry  books  home  “  must  have  signed  the  application  card  and 
given  satisfactory  reference  to  one  citizen.”  J  Under  such  a  restriction, 
about  13,000  persons  register  their  names  annually  for  the  sake  of  enjoying 
the  benefits  of  the  library.  When  they  apply  to  read  in  the  reference 
library  they  are  known  by  their  card ;  and  to  them,  and  indeed  to  all 
others,  the  hall  of  the  reference  library  is  free,  with  such  restrictions  as 
these,  that  reference  books  marked  on  the  catalogue  with  one  star  only 
circulate  with  the  written  permission  of  the  superintendent,  and  those 
marked  with  three  stars  shall  not  be  used  either  within  or  out  of  the 
building  unless  by  the  written  permission  of  the  president  or  two  of  the 
trustees.  “  The  guaranty  system  is  not  used  in  the  library,  citizenship 
and  identification  being  found  sufficient.”  Engravings,  patents  and 
some  other  books  are  shown  in  separate  rooms,  under  the  supervision  of 
special  functionaries.  There  are  other  restraints  to  prevent  injury  or 
improper  use  ;  such  as  that  medical  works  shall  be  loaned  only  to  per¬ 
sons  of  that  profession,  and  that  works  are  not  to  be  used  as  study  text¬ 
books. 

The  instances  here  cited  of  the  usages  of  prominent  libraries  may  at 
least  have  the  utility  of  suggesting  the  matters  for  regulation  in  the 
State  Library.  They  show  from  a  large  field  of  inquiry  that  there  is  a 
readiness  to  give  access  to  the  most  liberal  extent  compatible  with 
security.  “  It  by  no  means  follows  that  every  public  library  indiscrimi¬ 
nately,  whatever  its  character  or  contents,  should  be  open,  without  any 
sort  of  introduction  or  voucher  of  character.”  §  No  one  of  these  cases 

*  France  :  Win.  de  l’lns.  pub.  Rapports  sur  la  bibliotb^que  nationale,  1876. 
t  Edwards’  Memoirs,  II,  1007. 
i  Boston  Public  Library  Hand-Book,  1877. 

$  Edwards’  Memoirs  ol'  Libraries,  I,  p.  1026. 


can  serve  as  an  example  to  be  hastily  imitated.  Each  library  as  well  as 
our  own  may  have  peculiarities  requiring  a  variation  of  treatment. 

Registration  op  Readers. 

The  first  rule  for  the  consideration  of  the  trustees  would  be  some  means 
for  identifying  the  applicant  for  a  book.  It  might  be  a  rule  requiring 
him  to  register  his  name  and  address  in  a  book,  or  to  add  his  address 
to  his  name  on  the  application  card  containing  the  name  of  the  book 
desired.  Such  a  provision  might  be  considered  especially  applicable  to 
persons  using  the  bound  volumes  of  newspapers  or  any  of  the  3,000 
volumes  of  patents,  the  2,500  volumes  of  pamphlets,  and  books  of  value. 

Card  of  Introduction  for  Readers. 

In  view  of  the  measure  of  insufficiency  of  this  amount  of  identifica¬ 
tion,  instead  of  this  first  provision,  the  trustees  might  conclude  in  favor 
of  a  rule  that  readers  should  be  introduced  by  letter  from  some  reliable 
person,  with  or  without  guaranty  or  responsibility.  The  person  intro¬ 
ducing  or  guaranteeing  might  be  a  member  of  the  legislature,  a  member 
of  the  clerical,  medical  or  legal  professions,  or  a  householder  in  Albany. 
A  non-resident  and  stranger  from  out  of  the  State,  by  giving  his  address 
and  satisfying  the  secretary  of  the  trustees  or  the  librarian  of  his  char¬ 
acter,  might  have  the  privilege. 

It  seems  to  be  an  unjustifiable  disregard  of  the  interests  of  a  library, 
that  books  of  every  character,  rare,  unique,  costly  or  peculiar  should  be 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  a  total  stranger  upon  his  simple  demand 
in  a  room  as  public  as  a  Broadway.  In  the  absence  of  a  written  law  to 
protect  the  library,  he  imagines  that  he  has  a  right  to  require  the  libra¬ 
rian  to  put  a  work  into  his  hands  which  the  librarian  thinks  is  for  some 
reason  obviously  unfit.  Either  the  identity  or  the  character  or  the 
responsibility  of  every  individual  should  be  certified  to  in  some  manner, 
that  at  least  the  library  may  be  able  to  trace  an  injury  to  the  offender. 
Any  gentleman  informed  of  the  circumstances  would  see  the  propriety 
of  making  himself  known  through  an  introduction  from  another  person 
or  by  his  card.  Any  person  considering  himself  wronged  would  always 
have  the  privilege  of  appealing  to  the  judgment  of  the  secretary  or  of 
the  library  committee. 

Mutilation  and  Theft  of  Books. 

Further  special  legislation  may  be  necessary  to  protect  this  library, 
and  other  libraries  in  this  State,  from  the  mutilation  or  theft  of  books. 
At  present  our  regulations  contain  no  prohibitions  or  penalties  to  deter 
wrong-doers  in  these  particulars,  but  make  the  librarians  responsible  for 
all  mutilations  and  losses,  “unless  it  can  be  shown  that  some  other  per¬ 
son  is  responsible  for  such  loss  or  injury.”  The  usual  method  in  libraries 
is  to  make  the  reader  or  borrower  responsible,  and  to  request  him  to 


3G 


point  out  all  observed  defects.  The  library  has  suffered  to  some  extent 
from  both  these  causes,  and  in  proportion  to  the  increase  of  use  of  the 
library  is  liable  to  suffer  more  in  the  future  than  in  the  past.  The  num¬ 
ber  employed  in  the  service  of  the  library  is  not  sufficient  to  allow  of  any 
adequate  supervision  of  readers. 

By  the  laws  of  Massachusetts  any  person  found  guilty  of  writing  upon 
or  otherwise  defacing  any  book  belonging  to  a  public  library  is  punish¬ 
able  by  a  fine  not  exceeding  $1,000  for  each  offense.  By  a  law  of  this 
State  passed  in  1872,  any  member  or  other  person  mutilating  or  injuring 
a  book  belonging  to  an  incorporate  library  is  liable  to  a  fine  of  $100, 
“  provided  that  no  prosecution  shall  be  maintained  under  the  act,  unless 
the  library  prosecuting  shall  have  had  at  least  two  printed  copies  of  the 
act  conspicuously  exposed  on  the  premises.”  In  the  Astor  Library, 
within  a  short  period,  a  person  was  discovered  who  had  cut  out  many 
pages  from  several  volumes,  but  they  were  unable  to  prosecute  him  under 
that  act  because  they  had  not  advertised  the  law  in  the  building. 

It  is  the  belief  of  librarians  generally  that  the  advertisement  of  penal¬ 
ties  for  offenses  of  this  kind  does  much  more  good  than  it  can  possibly 
do  harm.  In  some  libraries  of  England  the  record  of  convictions  under 
a  somewhat  similar  law  against  injuries  has  been  posted  in  the  library 
with  the  names  of  the  offenders,  and  with  very  good  effect.  In  the 
British  Museum,  where  it  was  thought  the  good  had  been  sufficiently 
accomplished,  the  placard  was  taken  down.  The  same  offenses  again 
speedily  multiplied  and  the  placards  were  restored  to  their  old  place. 
It  appears  that  in  a  glass  case  near  the  entrance  an  exhibition  is  made 
of  the  mutilated  books  themselves,  so  that  what  is  carried  off  becomes 
of  no  use  to  its  possessor.*  In  Amherst  College,  Mass.,  books  are  fur¬ 
nished  with  a  colored  book-mark  on  which  is  printed  the  State  law 
against  mutilation,  and  the  college  offers  $25  reward  for  evidence  lead¬ 
ing  to  the  conviction  of  any  person  so  offending.  In  a  town  in  Massa¬ 
chusetts  a  plate  had  been  taken  out  of  a  book  in  the  library  by  a  reader, 
and  a  reward  was  offered  for  the  discovery  of  the  offender  in  the  local 
newspaper,  and  the  engraving  was  sent  back  by  mail.  A  similar  result 
followed  the  announcement  this  year  from  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of 
State  that  certain  manuscripts  had  been  taken  from  his  office ;  many  of 
the  manuscripts  stolen  were  returned. 

It  is  the  testimony  of  many  librarians  that  the  grounds  for  distrust 
touch  more  closely  the  educated  than  the  ignorant.  This  is  a  topic  calling 
for  instructions  from  the  trustees. 

Restrictions  on  Readers. 

In  a  previous  part  of  this  paper,  in  speaking  of  the  aim  of  the  library, 
we  gave  the  titles  of  various  works  as  illustrations  of  thousands  in  the 
library  on  which  restrictions  should  be  placed  upon  their  use  if  it  were 


*  Athenaeum,  London,  Oct.  20,  1877. 


37 


a  reference  library,  or  they  should  be  duplicated  if  it  were  a  popular 
library.  But  there  are  in  the  library  besides  hundreds  of  volumes  of 
fiction,  provided  as  literary  history  of  American  authors,  or  for  the  use 
of  families  of  members  and  of  the  State  officers.  If  all  classes  of  readers 
without  distinction  and  without  cards  of  introduction  continue  to  have 
the  privilege  of  occupying  seats  at  the  tables,  a  rule  might  be  adopted 
that  light  literature  should  not  be  delivered  for  continuous  reading  in 
the  library.  The  reason  for  the  rule  would  be  that  the  delivery  of  them 
took  up  too  much  of  the  time  of  the  librarians.  In  Dresden,  light 
literature  is  not  loaned  out  of  the  library  or  given  to  be  read  in  the 
library,  and  for  no  other  reason  than  this,  as  the  books  can  be  obtained 
elsewhere  by  the  applicants.  Of  course,  if  the  trustees  and  the  legisla¬ 
ture  enter  upon  the  project  of  making  the  library  a  “  popular”  one,  and 
provide  a  corresponding  staff,  the  reason  for  the  rule  falls  to  the  ground. 
The  discrimination  would  not  be  against  light  literature  or  novels,  but 
to  prevent  the  library’s  becoming  a  heavy  expense  to  the  State  in  pro¬ 
portion  to  its  utility.  Our  own  copies  of  works  of  fiction  are  frequently 
worn  out  and  have  to  be  condemned  as  worthless. 

Restrictions  hitherto  made  fin  regard  to  the  character  of  the  books  to 
be  delivered  to  readers,  when  made  by  the  librarians  in  certain  circum¬ 
stances,  have  been  approved  by  the  library  committee  and  the  trustees. 
In  February,  1876,  when  some  complained  that  they  had  been  refused 
books  on  account  of  their  trifling  character,  the  joint  library  committee 
of  the  legislature  sustained,  in  their  report,  the  course  which  had  been 
pursued. 

For  popular  libraries  it  is  a  very  generally  accepted  principle  that  there 
should  be  no  limit  to  the  age  of  the  readers.  The  library  is  an  educa¬ 
tional  institution,  and  any  child  that  can  read  in  quiet  may  be  allowed 
to  read  in  the  public  room.*  In  the  rules  hitherto  printed  by  the  trustees 
no  mention  is  made  of  the  young,  its  use  by  them  having  been  so  limited, 
it  was  not  necessary.  If  the  library  is  not  to  be  treated  as  a  popular 
library,  discrimination  on  the  score  of  age  would  be  proper,  unless  in  the 
case  of  youth  especially  recommended.  In  that  case  a  preamble  to  all 
the  rules  might  contain  the  declaration  that  the  library  was  not  a  popular 
library,  and  that  the  time  of  the  librarians  must  be  economized,  and 
could  not  be  occupied  in  furnishing  light  literature  for  general  reading. 

It  would  be  extremely  difficult  to  provide  that  the  rules,  regarding 
discrimination  of  readers  and  reading,  should  require  more  restrictions 
in  the  six  months  of  winter,  including  the  whole  session  of  the  legislature, 
and  be  relaxed  for  the  summer  months  or  the  other  six  months  of  the  year. 

Perhaps  the  application  of  some  other  rules  suggested  will  serve  instead 
of  any  discrimination  in  the  character  of  the  books  to  be  delivered,  and 
prevent  the  use  of  the  library  merely  for  amusement.  The  Massachusetts 
State  library  being  special  m  the  character  of  its  purchases,  has  no  popular 


*  U.  S  Libraries'  Report,  p.  413. 


38 


books,  and  consequently  has  no  readers  seeking  for  them.  The  funda¬ 
mental  article  upon  which  the  library  is  based  is  :  “  The  State  Library 
is  for  the  use  of  the  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  the  council,  the  sen¬ 
ate,  the  house  of  representatives  and  such  other  officers  of  the  government 
and  other  persons  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  permitted  to  use  the 
same.”  The  privileges  of  the  people  in  a  public  town  library  are  com¬ 
mon  and  equal,  if  they  are  tax-payers  of  that  town ;  but  in  a  State 
library  their  privileges  extend  only  just  so  far  as  the  government  has 
allowed  them.  They  have  the  same  rights  in  it  that  they  have  to  the 
use  of  any  of  the  other  public  institutions  of  the  State. 

Books  Improper  for  General -Circulation. 

On  this  topic  it  will  be  sufficient  for  the  present  to  quote  the  instruc¬ 
tions  given  by  the  trustees  to  the  librarians,  March  8,  1858,  and  which 
are  not  found  in  any  printed  copy  of  the  rules : 

“  There  is  a  class  of  books  in  the  library  which  have  been  deposited 
there  as  illustrative  of  the  age  in  which  they  were  written  and  to  preserve 
its  history.  They  are  not  designed  for  ordinary  and  common  reading, 
and  the  trustees  would  be  justly  censurable  if  they  had  placed  them 
there  for  such  purpose.  The  frequency  with  which  such  books  have 
lately  been  called  for,  and  the  avidity  with  which  they  are  read  by  young 
men,  make  it  imperative  on  the  trustees  to  direct  that  they  shall  in  no 
case  be  delivered  without  the  written  order  of  the  secretary.  You  will 
exercise  great  discretion  in  regard  to  all  books  which  may  be  called  for, 
which  in  your  judgment  may  exercise  a  demoralizing  influence  over  the 
young.  You  will  also  refuse  the  use  of  illustrated  works  to  persons  in 
whose  hands  you  believe  they  will  sustain  injury. 

“  By  order  of  the  trustees.” 

In  accordance  with  this  principle,  it  has  long  been  the  custom  to  give 
as  a  reason  for  not  delivering  to  young  persons  some  of  the  books  applied 
for,  that  the  library  did  not  give  out,  without  especial  orders,  books  which 
on  account  of  their  character  would  not  be  allowed  a  place  in  a  district 
school  library. 

Orders  for  Borrowing  Books. 

When  a  person,  who  by  law  has  a  right  to  borrow  books  from  the 
library,  gives  to  another  person  the  privilege  of  drawing  books  in  his 
name,  he  thereby  deprives  himself  of  his  own  right  for  the  time.  The 
order  is  so  frequently  originally  granted  to  the  applicant  by  the  person 
applied  to,  under  the  impression  that  such  orders  are  the  usual  and 
legitimate  way  for  all  persons  to  have  the  full  use  of  the  library,  that 
when  he  comes  to  ask  for  a  book  for  his  own  use,  he  is  disappointed  to 
find  that  he  has  legally  exhausted  all  his  own  right ;  in  consequence  it 
has  been  usual  to  allow  such  person  to  draw  for  his  own  use  the  works 
he  would  otherwise  be  entitled  to.  The  letter  of  the  law  does  not,  how- 


30 


ever,  provide  for  any  such  use  of  orders  and  their  acceptance  by  the 
librarian.  The  librarian  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Library  has  reported 
to  the  legislature,  regarding  an  order  system,  which  had  been  in  use 
with  them,  and  he  speaks  of  it  most  extravagantly,  as  one  “  which  of 
itself  would  deplete  any  library  in  this  or  any  other  community.”  The 
use  of  such  orders  has  been  prohibited  in  that  State  and  in  Tennessee, 
Ohio,  and  Vermont,  in  consequence  of  the  losses  their  libraries  had  suf¬ 
fered.  It  should,  however,  be  possible  to  control  the  matter  and  protect 
the  library  even  with  the  use  of  orders.  The  whole  system  is  one,  the 
extension  or  restriction  of  which  depends  upon  the  degree  to  which  the 
legislature  and  the  trustees  aim  to  have  the  library  conducted,  on  the 
basis  of  a  popular  town  library,  or  as  a  reference  library  of  the  govern¬ 
ment.  Every  extension  of  the  system  of  loaning  on  orders  demands 
more  means  of  watchfulness  and  greater  expense  of  management. 

Several  questions  arise  here  for  decision.  If  a  person  entitled  to  draw 
books  give  an  order  for  another  person  to  draw  in  his  name,  does  he  con¬ 
tinue  to  have  the  privilege  of  drawing  himself?  This  would  double  the 
privilege  of  drawing  books  beyond  the  provisions  of  law.  Can  any  per¬ 
son  be  privileged  to  give  an  order  to  more  than  one  person  ?  If  the 
order  is  given  by  a  member  of  the  legislature  for  himself  or  for  another 
person,  can  it  extend  beyond  the  actual  session  of  the  legislature  ? 
Should  an  order  in  behalf  of  a  person  to  draw  in  the  name  of  anothor 
person  be  unlimited  as  to  time  ?  In  the  British  Museum,  those  who 
have  tickets  for  reading  in  the  library  merely  enjoy  the  privilege  for  a 
limited  number  of  months. 

Loaning  Books  Out  of  Albany. 

There  is  no  provision  in  the  rules  for  loaning  books  to  persons  out  of 
the  city,  nor  for  sending  them  out  of  the  city  to  those  State  officers  who 
have  a  right  to  draw  books  themselves.  In  Germany  the  custom  exists 
in  the  principal  libraries  of  loaning  books  to  individuals  in  distant  towns 
on  the  security  of  the  library  to  which  they  are  consigned.  Libraries 
in  14  different  places,  including  Berlin,  Munich  and  Vienna  exchange 
in  this  manner  with  Dresden. 

In  the  colony  of  Victoria,  in  1875,  4,700  volumes  were  loaned  by  the 
trustees  of  the  library  in  Melbourne  to  libraries  and  mechanics’  insti¬ 
tutes  in  distant  towns ;  they  were  furnished  at  the  expense  of  the 
government  to  be  reloaned  to  individuals.  After  a  box  or  boxes 
arranged  with  shelves  inside  has  done  service  for  a  few  months,  it  is 
returned  to  be  sent  out  again  to  another  town.  This  is  an  effort  in  a 
new  settled  country  to  perform  the  work  of  the  popular  library  by  the 
government.  A  librarian  at  the  Librarians’  Conference  in  London,  Oct., 
1877,  urged  the  duty  of  existing  libraries  in  England  loaning  books  to 
persons  in  distant  towns.  One  method  suggested  was  that  duplicate 
works  might  be  set  aside  for  a  national  or  State  lending  library  of  the 


40 


same  kind.  The  request  for  such  accommodation  is  sometimes  made  to 
the  library  committee  and  to  the  secretary.  Every  such  extension  implies 
additional  expense  to  the  State,  and  if  the  measure  should  be  adopted, 
it  should  be  with  provision  for  ample  protection  from  loss  and  damage. 

Copying  of  Manuscripts. 

Any  person  desiring  to  copy  the  whole  of  any  manuscript  in  the  library 
should  obtain,  when  required  by  the  librarian,  the  permission  of  the 
secretary  of  the  trustees  or  of  the  library  committee,  to  whom  it  should 
be  his  duty  to  refer  the  applicant  in  any  case  of  doubt. 

Law  Library  Rules. 

Restrictions  founded  on  these  principles  have  long  been  applied  in 
the  law  library.  In  April,  1861,  the  judiciary  committee  of  the  senate 
and  assembly  were  required  to  report  its  condition  and  “  upon  the 
necessity  of  legislative  action  to  preserve  the  same  from  destruction.” 
In  their  report  they  show  that,  the  library  was  for  the  “  use  of  the  gov¬ 
ernment  and  the  people  of  the  State,”  and  manifestly  to  be  used  for  the 
purposes  of  reference.  But  they  regretted  to  find  that  “  its  use  as  thus 
restricted  has  been  so  extended  as  to  be  made  a  place  of  study  to  an 
almost  unlimited  extent,  to  the  great  inconvenience  of  the  judges  of  the 
courts  and  the  bar.”  Upon  this  report  the  legislature  resolved  that  the 
law  library  having  been  established  for  the  use  of  the  officers  of  the 
government,  the  courts  and  the  bar,  “it  is  the  duty  of  the  trustees  of 
the  said  library  to  secure  its  uninterrupted  use  to  such  purposes,  and 
that  to  secure  that  end  the  said  trustees  should  limit  its  use  to  such 
persons  and  officers,  especially  during  the  sessions  of  the  legislature  and 
the  terms  of  the  courts.”  In  consequence,  students  in  law  during  the 
terms  of  the  courts  are  not  admitted  to  the  use  of  the  library  until  2  p.m. 

Concluding  Observations  on  the  Rules. 

Many  points  regarding  these  and  other  rules  must  be  left  for  considera¬ 
tion  to  the  time  when  the  whole  body  of  the  regulations  shall  have 
been  drawn  up  in  harmony  with  a  general  plan. 

Of  course,  just  so  far  as  the  ends  for  which  the  general  library  is 
established  are  defined,  effective  rules  may  be  applied  for  its  manage¬ 
ment.  Whatever  the  restrictions  might  be,  they  would  still  leave  Albany 
in  the  enjoyment  of  great  advantages  over  other  cities,  and  the  library 
would  make  one  of  its  attractions ;  solely,  its  citizens  of  all  ages  would 
not,  from  the  accident  of  being  so,  have  so  great  privileges  as  if  it  were 
a  free  town  library  and  established  by  their  own  municipality. 

In  a  library  protected  in  the  character  of  its  readers,  it  would  be 
possible  to  have  thousands  of  volumes  exposed  without  locks,  for  use  for 
reference,  without  previous  application  to  the  librarian,  in  the  same 
manner  as  20,000  volumes  are  exposed  in  the  reading-room  of  the  British 
Museum. 


41 


Additional  Assistance  Needed  in  the  Library. 

Having  in  the  course  of  this  statement  given  a  summary  account  of 
the  work  to  be  done  in  the  library,  I  deem  it  my  duty  and  privilege 
respectfully  to  express  the  opinion  that  additional  assistance  should  be 
employed  in  it.  The  opinion  has  repeatedly  been  expressed  by  the 
chairman  of  the  library  committee  that  it  should  be  under  the  care  of  a 
librarian  and  two  assistants ;  yet  the  paper  submitted  by  me  to  the 
committee  in  April,  1876,  showed  that  the  amount  of  service  devoted  to 
the  library  has  been  diminished  instead  of  being  increased  since  1855. 
It  has  been  diminished  more  than  one-fifth  ;  while  within  that  time  the 
library  has  increased  from  40,000  to  more  than  103,000  volumes;  and 
50,000  pamphlets  have  been  added  with  the  immense  series  of  volumes 
of  patents.  There  is  a  double  handling  of  the  books  owing  to  the 
crowded  state  of  the  shelves  whereon  they  stand  in  double  rows.  The 
population  of  the  city  has  nearly  doubled  within  that  time.  Other 
causes  of  additional  labor  have  been  previously  mentioned.  Of  course 
the  cares  and  duties  of  the  librarians  have  correspondingly  increased. 

If  the  trustees  should  deliberatively  bestow  attention  upon  this  sub¬ 
ject,  they  would  be  convinced  that  there  is  too  much  work  to  be  done  in 
a  growing  and  much-used  library,  that  it  can  be  done  well  by  a  single 
librarian  and  assistant.  The  chairman  of  the  library  committee,  in  a 
report  to  the  trustees  in  1856,  remarks :  “  The  care  of  a  large  library 
such  as  that  of  the  State  is  now  becoming,  and  the  judgment  and  atten¬ 
tion  needed  in  the  selection  and  purchase  of  books  for  its  enlargement, 
with  the  details  of  its  management,  require  an  amount  of  time  and 
attention  which  most  persons  do  not  at  all  appreciate.”  *  The  continual 
and  increased  demand  for  those  services,  which  are  more  appropriate  to 
a  popular  library,  is  so  great  that  much  is  necessarily  not  done  which 
should  be  attended  to  ;  although  the  work  neglected,  while  useful  and 
necessary,  is  not  obvious,  and  needs  to  be  pointed  out  to  an  examiner. 
It  is  impossible  for  the  librarians  in  these  circumstances  to  make  the 
library  suitably  useful  to  the  public.  It  is  impossible  that  the  printed 
catalogues  and  indexes  should  have  that  bibliographical  detail,  com¬ 
pleteness  and  exactness  which  the  age  demands,  which  are  now  exhibited 
in  the  best  American  catalogues,  and  which  the  position  of  the  State 
gives  men  a  right,  to  expect.  The  Boston  Athenamm  is  spending  §100,000 
in  preparing  and  printing  its  catalogue  of  a  library  of  105,000  volumes. 
“  Harvard  College  has  employed  18  persons  for  16  years,  and  only  half 
the  library  has  been  catalogued.”  |  It  is  impossible  to  protect  the  library 
from  thefts  and  mutilations  when  a  single  librarian  and  assistant  are 
compelled  both  to  exercise  surveillance,  prepare  catalogues,  deliver 
books,  and  receive  visitors  all  within  the  same  hours. 

♦Minutes  of  the  Regents  for  1852-59,  p.  ‘253. 

t  Aracr,  Lib.  Journal,  I,  p.  115. 


42 


The  work  actually  performed  stands  out  in  one  respect  bodily,  in  more 
than  3,000  pages  of  catalogues  for  the  general  library,  besides  the  lists 
of  additions  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  trustees.  The  history  of  all  the 
libraries  in  the  country  will  not  include  a  single  one  where  so  much  and 
so  large  a  variety  of  library  work  has  been  performed  by  two  persons  as 
during  the  same  space  of  time  has  been  performed  in  the  general  depart¬ 
ment  of  the  New  York  State  Library,  though  persons  passing  before  the 
alcoves  where  the  books  repose  in  quiet  order  on  the  shelves  might  be 
tempted  to  say,  “  What  an  easy  berth  for  a  librarian  !  ” 

Whatever  decision  may  be  adopted  regarding  the  popular  aims  of  the 
library,  the  increase  of  assistance  will  still  be  necessary  ;  and  certainly 
not  as  little  will  suffice  as  was  asked  for  in  my  letter  addressed  to  the 
trustees  at  their  annual  meeting  of  January,  1877,  in  which,  after  repeat¬ 
ing  this  fact  of  increase  of  work  and  diminished  assistance,  which  had 
been  contained  in  my  statement  of  April,  1876,  I  requested  an  addi¬ 
tional  assistant  at  least  during  six  months  of  the  year,  the  period  within 
which  the  legislature  is  in  session  and  the  pressure  is  the  greatest.  This 
small  amount  was  requested,  not  as  being  deemed  sufficient,  but  as  a 
partial  relief  from  the  pressure,  believing  that  the  library  committee 
would  not  deem  it  wise  to  ask  the  legislature  for  more. 


The  Executive  Officer  of  the  Library. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  another  presents  itself  of  considerable 
importance,  though  of  much  delicacy.  The  wants  of  the  library  require 
for  greater  efficiency  that  some  one  should  be  most  closely  related  to  it 
as  its  chief  executive  officer,  whether  called  secretary,  librarian,  keeper, 
superintendent  or  any  other  name,  who,  under  prescribed  limitations, 
should  have  the  power  to  act  for  the  library.  This  is  not  the  present 
condition  of  things.  The  present  most  respected  and  laborious  secretary 
of  the  Board  of  Regents  is  also,  since  1856,  the  secretary  of  the  library. 
In  his  position  he  has  all  the  correspondence  and  consultations  on  educa¬ 
tion,  the  State  Museum,  the  Normal  School  and  other  assigned  charges, 
and,  occupied  with  his  increasing  duties,  which  grow  with  the  growth  of 
the  State,  he  is  not  able  to  give  much  of  his  time  to  the  library.  Some 
person  competent  to  act  as  librarian  should  have  the  power  to  act  for 
the  library.  A  man  of  education  and  culture  acting  as  librarian,  with 
an  experience  of  several  years  ought  to  be  qualified  to  suggest  the  books 
which  it  would  be  most  desirable  to  purchase  and  to  place  on  the  shelves 
of  the  library.  Receiving  from  the  trustees  from  month  to  month 
general  principles  to  guide  him  in  his  selections,  he  should  make  to 
them  monthly  report  of  his  purchases,  and  thereupon  receive  fresh  special 
instructions.  With  this  mode  of  cooperation  he  could  not  fail  to  make 
satisfactory  acquisitions  from  the  various  sources  of  supply.  These 
remarks  do  not  apply  to  purchases  involving  a  large  sum. 


43 


On  this  topic  Mr.  J.  Winter  Jones,  the  librarian  of  the  British  Museum, 
said  at  the  late  London  Conference  of  Librarians,  October,  1877,  in 
language  briefly  summarized  by  a  reporter  :  “  Books  ought  to  be  selected 
by  a  good  librarian,  not  by  a  committee.”  *  In  his  capacity  as  librarian 
he  has  the  disposal  on  his  sole  responsibility  of  one-fifth  of  the  $100,000 
annually  appropriated  for  the  library.  Mr.  Harrison,  librarian  of  the 
London  Library,  at  the  same  conference  “  claimed  for  a  librarian  as 
much  liberty  of  action  as  possible  in  book  purchases,  seeing  that  he  had 
many  chance  opportunities  of  buying  that  must  be  seized  with  prompti¬ 
tude,  and  would  not  wait  for  the  periodical  meeting  of  the  library  com¬ 
mittee.”*  The  author  of  the  paper  “  How  to  make  Town  Libraries 
Successful,”  in  the  United  States  Libraries’  Report,  1876,  says :  “  If  the 
librarian  is  competent,  he  should  be  the  trusted  executive  of  the  board, 
and  behind  him  should  stand  a  board  of  trustees  or  directors,  or  other 

consulting  or  legislative  body . Such  executive  should  be  allowed 

under  full  responsibility  adequate  powers.”  f 

It  should  not  be  necessary  in  classes  of  books  like  our  town  and  county 
histories,  the  purchase  of  which  has  been  declared  desirable  and  proper 
by  the  reports  and  usages  of  nearly  50  years,  that  there  should  be  fre¬ 
quent  delays  and  loss  of  time,  and  sometimes  losses  of  books,  while 
waiting  for  a  chance  to  get  the  approbation  of  the  library  committee. 
After  23  years’  experience  in  the  general  library,  its  librarian  has  no 
authority  to  buy  a  single  volume  ;  it  is  brought  to  the  office  of  the  secre¬ 
tary  for  approval,  who  rarely  takes  the  responsibility,  and  there  it  waits 
for  the  approval  of  the  library  committee. 

There  is  less  occasion  for  a  feeling  of  embarrassment  in  adverting  to 
this  topic  than  there  would  be  if  sentiments  in  many  respects  similar 
had  not  already  been  expressed  by  the  trustees.  In  1856,  after  the  death 
of  Dr.  Beck,  the  secretary  of  the  library,  and  after  the  appointment  of 
his  successor,  the  trustees,  in  their  annual  report  to  the  legislature,  make 
mention  that  “  the  interests  of  the  library  and  its  enlargement  were  the 
subject  of  his  constant  thought  and  unremitting  energies.”  They  then 
add  that  “the  duties  of  the  secretary  of  the  Regents  have  become  so 
numerous  and  important  that  the  Regents  have  resolved  to  appoint  an 
additional  secretary,  whose  chief  duty  they  propose  it  shall  be  to  take 

charge  of  the  library . and  they  respectfully  request  the  legislature  to 

make  such  provision  for  his  compensation  as  they  may  deem  proper.” 
This  plan  was  never  executed.  Instead  of  it,  the  educational  depart¬ 
ment,  having  also  increased  in  importance  and  labors,  received  an  assist¬ 
ant  secretary ;  while  nearly  all  those  library  duties  which  had  been  dis¬ 
charged  with  so  much  enthusiasm  by  Dr.  Beck,  and  which  occupied  so 
great  a  part  of  his  time,  have  fallen  to  the  lot  and  care  of  the  librarian 
of  the  general  library. 

*  Athenaeum,  London,  Oct.  G,  1877. 

t  p.  430. 


44 


The  Library  Hall  op  the  New  Capitol. 

There  is  another  and  final  topic  of  so  great  importance  that  I  hope  to 
be  excused  for  introducing  it  to  the  notice  of  the  trustees  in  this  state¬ 
ment.  It  is  the  question  of  the  uses  and  disposition  to  be  made  of  that 
large  portion  of  the  new  capitol  which  has  been  devoted  to  the  general 
library  only. 

The  occasion  which  led  to  the  preparation  of  these  remarks  was  the 
prospect  of  the  removal  of  the  library  to  its  new  home,  an  event  of  im¬ 
portance  to  the  interests  of  the  library  and  to  the  people  of  the  State. 
There  is  always  danger  in  such  an  edifice  that  those  interests  may  be 
sacrificed  to  the  fancied  necessities  of  architecture,  or  that  its  construction 
will  have  been  so  far  advanced  that  it  may  be  too  late  to  introduce  or 
apply  an  adequate  remedy.  It  is  natural  to  feel  a  solicitude  that  the 
arrangements,  in  a  structure  of  such  permanent  character,  should  be  the 
best  known  for  the  security  and  preservation  of  the  books,  and  for  facilitat¬ 
ing  their  use  by  readers.  The  latest  conclusions  on  this  subject  of  men 
of  the  largest  experience  in  library  administration  cannot  fail  to  be  of 
utility  at  this  juncture,  and,  therefore,  I  propose  to  quote  the  expressed 
opinions  of  several  of  them. 

In  this  age  of  multiplication  of  libraries,  and  the  still  greater  multipli¬ 
cation  of  books  to  be  stored  in  them,  edifices  for  the  purpose  are  being 
constructed  on  new  principles,  better  adapted  to  the  aims  cf  libraries, 
and  to  the  ever-growing  number  of  books,  than  have  been  any  of  the 
previous  structures. 

But  with  regard  to  the  plan  of  our  own  proposed  library  hall,  the  only 
information  before  the  public  accessible  to  me  is  from  an  architect,  and 
it  states,  that  it  will  “  occupy  the  whole  of  the  east  front  of  two  stories, 
and  will  be  283  feet  long,  and  54  feet  wide  and  48  feet  high.  This  will 
be  the  most  attractive  room  in  the  building,  and  it  is  believed  in  the 
world.  Its  large  area  and  lofty  proportions,  its  views  toward  the  north, 

east  and  south . will  make  it  a  favorite  place  of  resort  at  all  seasons  of 

the  year.”  There  is  another  description  which  gives  visitors  a  promenade 
over  the  lofty  portico  of  the  building  outside  of  the  hall.  The  above 
description,  however,  shadowing  forth  that  it  is  to  be  a  lounge  attractive 
to  wandering  visitors,  does  not  make  an  equally  attractive  picture  for 
students  of  history  and  science.  And,  moreover,  it  will  appear  to  those 
who  have  made  the  subject  a  special  study,  to  indicate  a  choice  of  the 
most  costly  mode  of  shelving  books,  and  the  most  costly  and  inconvenient 
mode  of  accommodating  students. 

Storing  Books  Compactly 

The  aims  of  librarians  of  the  present  day  are  to  be  able  to  store  the 
largest  number  of  books  in  the  least  possible  space  consistent  with  free¬ 
dom  of  access  to  them  by  librarians,  and  with  abundance  of  light,  and  to 


provide  adjoining  to  it  a  convenient  reading-room  or  reading-rooms,  in¬ 
dependent  of  and  additional  to  the  rooms  where  the  books  are  stored. 
Three  modern  edifices,  the  new  hall  of  the  National  Library  of  Paris,  the 
new  portions  of  the  British  Museum  Library  surrounding  its  reading- 
room,  and  the  new  addition  to  the  old  library  of  Harvard  College,  are  all 
constructed  upon  the  principle  to  which  I  have  referred.  The  alcoves  of 
the  British  Museum  which  radiate  from  the  circle  of  its  modern  reading- 
room,  constructed  in  the  quadrangle  of  the  old  edifice,  have  a  length  of 
shelving  of  25  miles,  and  have  a  capacity  for  1,500,000  volumes. 

The  new  wing  (62  by  34  feet)  to  Gore  Hall,  the  old  library  at  Harvard 
College,  is  designed  to  accommodate  200,000  additional  volumes.  When 
built,  in  1840,  it  was  thought  that  the  edifice  was  large  enough  for  all  the 
books  that  would  be  placed  in  it  for  a  century.  It  is  built  with  a  roof 
largely  of  glass,  and  abundant  and  large  glass  windows  on  the  sides. 
Whatever  the  apparent  number  of  stories  outside,  it  has  five  stories  in¬ 
side,  each  story  not  being  more  than  seven  feet  high.  The  floors  of  each 
story  are  of  iron  open  work.  Through  the  whole  length  of  each  story 
extend  as  many  double-faced  tiers  of  shelving  as  can  find  room,  after 
providing  an  allowance  of  two  and  a-half  feet  between  the  several  tiers. 
The  runners  for  books  reach  the  shelves  by  numerous  narrow  stairs  con¬ 
veniently  placed.  Around  the  whole  runs  a  passageway  three  feet  in 
width,  so  that  no  books  come  against  the  outside  walls. 

Mr.  Winsor,  late  of  the  Boston  Public  Library,  and  Mr.  Poole,  of  the 
Chicago  Public  Library,  both  gentlemen  of  the  largest  experience  in 
modern  library  wants,  at  the  Librarians’  Convention  in  New  York,  in 
September,  1877,  each  of  them  presented  diagrams  of  their  own  plans 
for  arranging  books,  which  harmonize  essentially  in  the  principle  of 
compactness  of  storage  with  those  of  the  three  libraries  to  which  I  have 
referred.  The  large  hall  of  the  Boston  Library,  one  of  the  comparatively 
recent  structures  for  a  library,  was  frequently  referred  to,  by  those  best 
acquainted  with  it,  as  a  failure  in  many  respects;  being  the  source  of 
great  embarrassments,  most  of  them  irremediable,  on  account  of  defective 
arrangement  in  the  fundamental  plan. 

Reasons  for  Compact  Storage. 

« 

Among  the  reasons  for  resorting  to  the  principle  of  compactly  storing 
books  is  the  prodigious  rapidity  with  which  libraries  increase,  frequently 
doubling  their  number  of  volumes  repeatedly  in  a  few  years.  The  library 
in  Paris  is  said  to-day  to  actually  contain  over  2,000,000  volumes,  and 
perhaps  it  is  not  an  exaggeration.  The  librarian  of  Congress,  with  the 
new  capitol  barely  finished  in  its  present  enlargement,  asks  for  a  separate 
edifice  for  the  National  Library,  and  one  that  can  be  easily  enlarged  to 
receive  2,000,000  volumes.  It  has  twice  doubled  in  13  years  from  1861. 
The  short  period  of  25  years  has  already,  without  extra  appropriations, 
rendered  the  hall  of  the  New  York  State  Library  too  small  by  one-half 


4-G 


to  accommodate  properly  the  books  now  stored  within  it.  If  the  ratio  of 
increase  should  be  only  slightly  greater  than  in  the  past  25  years,  50 
years  would  not  elapse  before  it  would  be  necessary  to  provide  accom¬ 
modations  for  it  elsewhere  than  in  the  new  capitol.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
sufficient  light  can  be  secured  in  it  to  apply  thoroughly  the  principle  of 
storage. 

Another  reason  is  that  there  is  a  great  economy  of  time  secured  by 
bringing  the  books  near  to  the  librarians  and  the  messengers ;  the 
economy  of  time  is  also  equally  to  the  advantage  of  the  reader.  This 
principle  led  to  the  construction  of  the  new  library  building  of  the  college 
of  New  Jersey  as  an  octagon,  having  the  librarians’  desk  at  the  centre, 
and  from  it  rays  of  tiers  of  shelving  diverge  to  the  walls.  Notwithstand¬ 
ing  its  outside  dimensions  are  only  64  feet,  and  it  is  but  two  stories  high, 
there  is  abundant  accommodation  for  100,000  volumes  in  that  small  space.* 
The  difficulties  of  the  service  of  readers  by  the  librarians  in  a  hall  con¬ 
structed  and  arranged  like  the  present  hall  of  the  general  library  are 
very  great.  “A  library  hall,  for  example,  should  not  be  arranged  with 
such  absolute  disregard  of  economy  that  the  attendants  will  have  to  travel 
four  miles  to  get  books,  for  every  one  mile  they  would  have  gone  in  a 
well-devised  structure.”! 

Separate  Reading-Rooms. 

One  portion  of  the  library  hall  should  be  set  off  and  inclosed  as  a 
reading-room.  It  is  the  opinion  of  all  librarians  that  reference  libraries 
should  have  reading-rooms  for  their  readers  separate  from  the  room 
where  the  books  are  stored.  Edwards,  in  his  Memoirs  of  Libraries,  says : 
“  The  reading-rooms  should  invariably  be  distinct  from  the  rooms 
appropriated  to  the  main  collection  of  books.”  “  If  the  library  be  a 
large  one,  two  reading-rooms  at  least  should  be  provided.”  “An  ample 
provision  of  small  working-rooms  will  be  found  to  be  true  economy.”  X 
The  Boston  Public  Library  provides  a  reference  reading-room  in  its 
reading-room  for  periodicals,  and  a  room  for  the  delivery  of  books  loaned 
out,  in  addition  to  the  reading  tables  of  the  reference  library  room  on 
the  story  above.  The  patents  are  exhibited  in  a  separate  room,  and  the 
engravings  in  an  additional  one.  Mr.  Poole  says  :  “  The  reading-room 
should  be  a  separate  apartment  from  the  library  room.”  § 

In  the  new  part  of  Harvard  library  is  contained  an  ante-room  for  the 
delivery  of  books,  with  coat-rooms,  besides  three  working-rooms  for  the 
librarian  and  assistants,  and  the  book-room.  The  general  library  of  the 
New  York  State  Library  has  not  even  a  coat  closet,  or  any  room  but  the 
one  book-room.  The  law  library  has  had  three  of  its  alcoves  separated 
from  it  for  secretary’s,  assistant  secretary’s,  and  bindery  rooms  since  the 
hall  has  been  occupied  for  the  library. 

*Lib.  Journal,  Nov.  1878. 
t Cutter,  C  A.,  Lib.  Jour.,  p.  390. 
t  London,  1859,  vol.  II,  pp.  731,  1030,  1037,  1006. 

§  United  States  Libraries’  Report,  1876,  pp.  484,  485. 


47 


Difficulty  of  Heating  a  Large  Library. 

It.  constitutes  a  strong  reason  for  a  separate  reading-room  that  a  hall 
300  feet  long  and  48  feet  high  is  difficult  to  heat  in  our  climate,  so  as  to 
be  comfortable  for  readers,  without  too  much  expense  ;  or,  it  may  not  be 
possible  to  heat  it  sufficiently,  and  thus  leaves  them  uncomfortable. 
The  hall  of  the  present  State  Library  has  never  been  suitably  warmed 
with  three  and  four  furnaces  in  the  cellar  and  two  heaters  in  the  upper 
hall.  If  made  sufficiently  warm  for  readers,  it  then  becomes  injurious 
to  the  books  by  the  excess  of  dryness  resulting  from  the  protracted  and 
excessive  heat.  The  amount  of  heat  necessary  to  warm  a  lofty  hall 
causes  the  upper  stories  of  the  galleries  to  be  extremely  hot,  and  this 
heat  proves  to  be  more  detrimental  to  the  binding  than  even  the  gas. 
On  one  occasion  the  heat  was  found  to  be  more  than  145  degrees  of 
Fahrenheit.  The  heat  in  a  hall  designed  merely  for  books  and  not  for 
readers  would  be  but  moderate,  yet  always  sufficiently  warm  for  the 
runners  after  the  books. 

Asa  consequence  of  such  a  change  of  plan  as  here  suggested  in  the 
uses  of  the  parts  of  a  library,  the  reading-room  becomes  the  home  of 
architectural  ornament  rather  than  the  room  where  the  books  are  stored. 

In  case  the  hall  for  books  should  be  finished  with  great  architectural 
elegance,  and  the  storage  plan  not  adopted,  there  would  still  be  a  pro¬ 
priety  that  readers  should  have  a  separate  room,  and  not  be  interrupted 
by  the  crowd  of  mere  visitors  passing  through  it  to  view  paintings  and 
objects  of  curiosity  or  to  reach  the  balcony  outside. 

The  aim  should  be  to  adapt  the  space  as  effectively  as  possible  to  the 
purposes  for  which  it  is  wanted — to  hold  books  and  to  read  in  without 
interruption  and  in  quiet.  How  much  of  an  object  is  it  to  be  able  to 
say  that  one  has  the  most  magnificent  library  hall  in  the  country,  if  as  a 
consequence  the  hall  is  rendered  most  inconvenient  and  ill  adapted  to 
its  proper  use,  and  if  it  is  no  part  of  the  aim  of  a  library  to  secure  such 
a  hall,  and  if  instead  of  being  an  advantage  it  is  an  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  its  usefulness  ? 

As  to  how  far  any  of  the  facts  adduced  on  this  last  topic,  and  the 
thoughts  or  desires  which  they  may  suggest,  can  be  practically  applied, 
I  do  not  need  to  express  at  present  any  opinion  ;  but  I  had  such  con¬ 
victions  of  the  importance  of  the  facts  that  I  could  not  refrain  from 
embodying  them  on  paper  and  laying  them  before  the  trustees. 

If,  for  the  solution  of  this  and  of  other  topics  embraced  in  this  report, 
the  trustees  should  see  sufficient  motive  to  appoint  a  special  committee 
or  committees,  many  additional  facts  and  opinions  of  others  could  be 
brought  forward  which  would  throw  a  fuller  light  upon  the  questions 
discussed,  and  which  I  have  only  refrained  from  reciting  so  as  not  to 
prolong  this  report.  Having  received  a  trust  from  the  State,  the  care 
and  welfare  of  the  State  Library,  I  felt  confident  they  would  welcome 


48 


any  information  respectfully  communicated  with  good  intentions  which 
might  facilitate  them  in  the  discharge  of  it. 

In  conclusion,  I  solicit  from  the  trustees  the  most  indulgent  interpreta¬ 
tion  they  can  possibly  give  to  every  line  of  this  report.  I  hope  that  they 
will  not  be  able  to  see  in  any  part  of  it  aught  else  than  the  sincerest 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  an  institution  for  which  the  writer  has  worked 
most  heartily  for  more  than  a  score  of  years.  He  recognizes  in  himself 
no  other  desire  than  that  such  decisions  may  be  reached  by  the  trustees 
from  the  discussions  of  the  themes  herein  introduced  to  their  notice  as 
may  conduce  effectively  to  the  greatest  public  good. 

All  of  which  is  very  respectfully  submitted. 

HENRY  A.  HOMES, 

Librarian  of  the  General  Library. 

State  Library,  Albany,  January  1,  1878. 


